Thomas Daschle: “last week an American giant announced his plans to retire. Obviously, that description has more than one connotation.…”

“last week an American giant announced his plans to retire. Obviously, that description has more than one connotation. Bob Crandall is a giant in his industry and a remarkable pioneer. Few, if any, leaders in aviation can match his impressive record of achievement. The American airlines he joined is vastly different than the one he will soon leave. In a time of great economic turbulence in aviation industry, Mr. Crandall navigated his company and the industry itself to new heights and vastly new horizons. As a result, we are all beneficiaries. We know this man as an innovator. A person who understood that competition was not only good, it was essential. As a frequent flyer, I and millions of other Americans have benefited from the program he conceived to bring down costs and encourage loyal customers. We know him, too, as a financial manager of incomparable depth. American has been a consistent leader in profits and fiscal management. His stockholders have benefited from an array of innovations including code-sharing and the hub and spoke system in routing that has now been adopted by virtually every airline in the business. My wife, Linda, and I have known Bob for some time now. We have no doubt that this man of many interests and so much energy is far from retiring. There will be new challenges and most likely, more pioneering. Whatever future he may now be planning, we wish him well.”