NEW YORK -- C. Edward Acker, who built Air Florida from a company with $7.8 million in revenues to $161 million in three years, was named Wednesday as chairman and chief executive of Pan American World Airways.
His election was announced by chairman William T. Seawell, who will be retiring in a few months.
Pan Am recently agreed to sell its profitable Intercontinental Hotels division to Grand Metropolitan Ltd., of Britain and contracted to take stringent economy measures in return for a new short-term $200 million line of bank credit. This credit line also is contingent on Pan Am workers and executives to take voluntary pay cuts.
Seawell said 'Acker's ability to lead a company in both good and bad times, his ... talent for obtaining capital, his natural capability for strong employee leadership and his ... track record for posting healthy growth in revenue and profits have demonstrated to us that he is the person for this job.'
Seawell also said Pan Am was impressed by Acker's knowledge of Pan Am's competition in Europe, Latin America and the United States.
Acker said he welcomed the chance to work with William Waltrip, recently named Pan Am's president.
He said he believed 'you don't fly a route unless you can make a profit and I don't believe in growth for the sake of growth.'
After its growth of the past three years, Air Florida, based in Miami, earned $11.3 million in the first half of this year on revenues of $148.5 million. The company has expanded its routes both domestically and overseas. Acker was President of Gulf United Corp., a financial holding company, from October 1976 until his resignation in July, 1977 when he joined Air Florida. Prior to that position, he was president of Transway International, a New York City based transportation Company.
Before joining Transway in October, 1975, Acker was president of Braniff Airways.
Acker was born in Dallas in 1929, and is a graduate of Southern Methodist University. He is a trustee of SMU's endowment funds, as well as an advisory member of that University's Board and the School of Business.
