Najeeb E. Halaby, who was once a leader in the airline industry and was known more recently as the father of Queen Noor of Jordan, died today at his home in McLean, Va. He was 87. Mr. Halaby, formerly of Alpine, N.J., had lived in McLean in recent years. He also had a home on Martha's Vineyard, Mass. At various times in his life, Mr. Halaby was a skydiver, test pilot, lawyer and businessman, most notably at Pan American World Airways. He started as a senior vice president at Pan Am in 1965, became president in 1968, chief executive in 1969 and then chairman the next year. In 1972, he was forced to resign as chairman and chief executive when the board blamed him for the line's worsening financial crisis. Mr. Halaby's tenure coincided with one of the worst slumps in the airline industry, compounded by a general recession, inflation, increased competition and the high cost of introducing the Boeing 747. Mr. Halaby had championed the jumbo jet, predicting correctly that it would become a mainstay of air travel. "A chief executive likes to leave a company better than when he found it," Mr. Halaby said upon his departure. "I believe I have." _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus