Howard Putnam is the former CEO of Southwest and Braniff Airlines and group VP Marketing for United Airlines. He is also a business and motivational speaker, author, consultant, commentator, and online mentor on leadership, customer service, change, transformation and ethics. In 1998, he co-founded and was chairman of Aircraft Interior Resources (AIR), in Houston. In March 2002, he joined Centerpost Corporation, the leading provider of automated communications solutions, as a strategic advisor.

Howard Putnam was raised on an Iowa farm and learned to fly out of a pasture in his father's J-3 Piper Cub. At age 17, he entered the airline business as a baggage handler at Midway Airport in Chicago for Capital Airlines. Capital soon merged into United and Howard Putnam held thirteen different positions in sales, services and staff assignments in several cities, before being named group VP of Marketing for United Airlines, the world's largest airline, in 1976.

In 1978 Howard Putnam was recruited to become president and CEO of fledgling Southwest Airlines in Dallas, TX. While at Southwest, Howard Putnam and his team tripled the revenues and tripled profitability in three years. They also successfully guided Southwest through airline deregulation and Southwest was the first air carrier to order the Boeing 737-300, which later became the largest selling aircraft ever for Boeing.

Howard Putnam led the visioning process at Southwest as well as further developing the fun culture and excellent customer service that Southwest is still known for today. Southwest has been profitable in every quarter for over twenty-five years, a record unsurpassed by any airline.

In 1981, Howard Putnam was recruited by the board of directors of Braniff International to come aboard as CEO and save and/or restructure the financially failing airline. He was the first airline CEO to successfully take a major carrier into, through and out of chapter 11. Braniff flew again in 1984.

Howard Putnam is the author of The Winds of Turbulence on leadership and ethics. Harvard University wrote a case study on his experiences at Braniff, The Ethics of Bankruptcy as a model as to how to handle stakeholders in crisis.

Howard Putnam has since been an entrepreneur, the chairman of a startup investment company and in 1998, the co-founder and chairman of AIR, a commercial airline seat refurbishment company. He is a founding faculty member and advisory board member of www.Mentoru.com/Putnam, an online education and mentoring site.

Articles by Howard Putnam:

• Fear - The Thief Of Dreams