Donald J. Carty

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Donald J. Carty, O.C., M.B.A., LL.D. (born 1946) is a Canadian businessman who serves as chairman of Virgin America and Porter Airlines. In addition to these chairmanships, Mr. Carty is also a director of Sears, Roebuck, CHC Helicopter Corporation and Barrick Gold Corporation. He was previously chairman and CEO of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, from 1998 to 2003. Mr. Carty is chairman of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a member of the Board of Trustees of Southern Methodist University and of the Executive Board of the SMU Cox School of Business, and a member of the board of directors of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation. In January of 2007, Carty became the Vice Chairman and CFO of Dell Inc. On May 19, 2008, Dell announced that Carty would step down in June of that year and that he would stay on as Vice Chairman.

[edit] Biography

Born in Toronto, Canada on July 23, 1946, he attended Queen's University and Harvard Business School. He worked for Air Canada and the Canadian Pacific Railway before joining American, although he moved to Canadian Pacific Airlines from 1985 to 1987. At American, he served as controller, and later as executive vice president for finance and planning under CEO Robert Crandall.

In April of 2003, Carty and his executive board struck a cost-cutting deal with American's labor unions, intended to mitigate AMR's upcoming $1 billion first-quarter loss. The deal unraveled several days later, when unions learned that AMR executives were keeping $41 million in retention bonuses. Although many other airlines had similar retention bonus arrangements[1], several AMR board members--most notably University of Oklahoma president David Boren--called for Carty's resignation.

Carty resigned on April 24, 2003. He was replaced as CEO by Gerard Arpey, and as chairman by Edward A. Brennan.

Carty was appointed as Chairman of Virgin America on February 6, 2006.[2] On February 2 of that year, Toronto-based Porter Airlines, in the process of starting up a small regional service out of the downtown Toronto City Centre Airport, announced that Carty would simultaneously serve as its chairman. He is also a director of Sears, Roebuck, CHC Helicopter Corporation, Barrick Gold Corporation, and Dell Computer, becoming the latter's chief financial officer on 1 January 2007.[3] On May 19, 2008, Dell announced that Carty, hired to help lead the computer maker's successful turnaround, would step down and be replaced by longtime General Electric executive Brian Gladden on June 13. Dell said that Carty would stay on as Vice Chairman.[4]

In 2002, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, that country's answer to British knighthood.

[edit] References