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AirTran elevates president to CEO

Robert Fornaro announces big 2008 plans, including three or four new destinations.

By STEVE HUETTEL, Times Staff Writer
Published November 1, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Robert Fornaro helped lead AirTran as its revenue rose and its fleet grew threefold.

Robert Fornaro, who directed the rapid growth of discounter AirTran Airways as president, was named the airline's chief executive officer Wednesday and promised no let-up in the company's expansion plans.

"Tampa's going to see a lot more growth from AirTran in 2008," he said in an interview. AirTran plans to grow capacity in "low double digit" percentages, said Fornaro, focusing on Florida, the Northeast, Midwest and its hub in Atlanta. The airline ranks as Tampa International Airport's fifth largest, with nearly 8 percent of passengers.

AirTran also plans to add three or four new cities next year, he said, including "an important Caribbean destination."

Fornaro, 54, succeeds Joe Leonard, AirTran's chairman and CEO for the past eight years. Leonard will remain as chairman of the company headquartered in Orlando.

When the two airline veterans arrived in 1999, AirTran was in financial shambles. They bought new Boeing jets to replace aging DC-9s and kept a tight rein on expenses. AirTran's fleet has grown more than threefold to 137 jets. Annual revenue, $450-million in 1998, is expected to hit $2.4-billion this year. AirTran has been profitable every year since 1999.

"We've gone from a troubled, weak airline with a poor image to one with quality that's very high,"Fornaro said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

AirTran lost two acquisition battles to bigger rivals. Southwest Airlines outbid AirTran in 2004 for the assets of ATA Airlines, mostly gates at Chicago's Midway Airport. AirTran's attempted hostile takeover of Midwest Airlines was thwarted this year when Northwest Airlines bought a share of the Milwaukee-based carrier.

But AirTran's operations didn't suffer, unlike many other airlines attempting mergers, said Robert Mann of R.W. Mann & Co., an airline consulting firm in Port Washington, N.Y.

"These guys have run a great airline while involved in two transactions that would have tied other teams in knots," he said.

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

[Last modified October 31, 2007, 22:55:19]