Arthur D. Lewis

Arthur D. Lewis (born September 13, 1918 in Greenville, Texas ; died January 12, 2008 in Silver Spring ) was an American transportation manager.

Life

Arthur D. Lewis grew up in Austin . He studied at the University of Texas from 1935 to 1941 . He was not awarded a bachelor's or master's degree in economics or business administration. He later attended a management program at Harvard University .

On August 1, 1941, he began working for American Airlines in the planning department. During the Second World War he worked from May 1944 as a civilian for the Air Transport Command in Washington. After the war, he moved back to American Airlines and rose in the airline's management.

On February 16, 1955, he took over the almost bankrupt Hawaiian Airlines and managed it until December 31, 1963. He succeeded in averting bankruptcy and making the airline profitable again. On February 1, 1964, he moved to Eastern Airlines , which was also in loss, and was its President and Chief Executive Officer from 1966 to February 28, 1969 . Again he managed to get the company out of the red. During this time, the flight routes to the Bahamas and Seattle were introduced.

He then worked from July 1, 1969 to June 30, 1973 as Chairman and CEO for the investment banking company FS Smithers & Co. Inc. In 1970, he was one of the "founders" of the state railroad company Amtrak, commissioned by President Richard Nixon . In May 1974 he became chairman and chief executive officer of the United States Railway Association , the state organization for the rescue of rail traffic in the northeastern United States. In this capacity, he also became Chairman of Conrail in December 1974 . In June 1977 he left USRA and moved to the American Bus Association , which he headed for several years.

After his official retirement in 1982, he founded the Mid Pacific Air Corporation, the parent company of an island airline in Hawaii . In 1990 he founded USAfrica Airways . This airline started offering flights from Dulles to South Africa in the mid-1990s .

Arthur D. Lewis was married with two children.

Publications

• Frederick, John H., Lewis, Arthur D .: History of Air Express . In: Journal of Air Law and Commerce . tape 12 , no. 3 , 1941 ( smu.edu [accessed February 8, 2018]).

Web links

• Robert E. Bedingfield: Man in Business . In: The New York Times . June 13, 1971, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed February 8, 2018]).
• Longtime Transportation Executive Arthur D. Lewis . February 12, 2008, ISSN  0190-8286 ( washingtonpost.com [accessed February 8, 2018]).
• Barry Meier: AD Lewis, Administrator Behind Conrail, Is Dead at 89 . In: The New York Times . February 15, 2008, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed February 8, 2018]).
• Nominations - February-May: hearings before the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Ninety-third Congress. Washington, 1974 ( hathitrust.org [accessed February 8, 2018]).