US Air CEO nabbed on drunk driving charge

[Ari707]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Reuters) -- Doug Parker, the chief executive of US Airways, was arrested late on Jan. 31 on suspicion of drunk driving, a spokesman for the Scottsdale Police Department said on Friday.

The incident occurred hours after Parker pulled US Airways' (Charts) bid to acquire larger, bankrupt rival Delta Air Lines (Charts) after Delta creditors rejected the bid.

Officers on a special DUI taskforce clocked the CEO driving 20 m.p.h. over the 45 m.p.h. speed limit in his BMW car in Scottsdale, a city in the Phoenix valley area.

"When the officer pulled Parker over, he noticed the smell of alcohol on his breath, and that he had watery eyes and slurry speech," spokesman Mark Clark told Reuters.

Parker told police that he was driving back from a party at the FBR Open golf tournament, where he drank three beers.

US Air ends $10B bid for Delta
Clark said officers booked Parker for suspected DUI, and then sent him home in a taxi. Scottsdale police are still awaiting results of tests to determine Parker's blood alcohol levels.

"Of course, he's extremely embarrassed about the situation," said US Airways spokesman Phil Gee. He wasn't aware whether Parker, who wasn't available for comment, had been arrested previously.

[Mellyrose]

Had he just gotten off of a New Mexico flight? :lol:

[RDU-JFK]

hahaha and only after 3 beers...

[Bellucciman]

Not for nothing but how did the officers "smell" alcohol.....I thought it was odorless. The arresting officers better get their terminology right before the court appearance. I believe it's "There was a strong odor of alcholic beverage coming from inside of the vehicle your honor"!

[Mellyrose]

The smell of alcohol on someone's breath is odorless???? You're kidding, right?

[Bellucciman]

Yep! The alcoholic beverage, it this case beer, was what the cops smelled. It's probably the reporter that said "smell of alcohol". What do they know. I know this from my time as a cop. If you put down that you smelled alcohol on someones breath (when locking someone for DWI or some kind of disorderly conduct) the SGT or LT would massively verbally reprimand you. I made one arrest for DWI and I put down "alcoholic beverage" in my report. If I stated it incorrectly the defense lawyer would have nailed me in court while I was on the stand.

[Mellyrose]

Sheesh, semantics. :-P

[nwafan20]

Boy, Parker takes rejections pretty hard... ;)

[Bellucciman]

I just really want to get the hell out of my office, I've had it!

[hiss srq]

Boy, Parker takes rejections pretty hard... ;)

But he can run an airline better than anyone out there unlike some airlines. **cough** Northwest **cough**

Besides that I do not see how this should even bother the airline and or his career. Now someone like rampers, agents, or pilots who drive jetbridges, belt loaders, and airbuses would really be an issue. But Dougie? Nahhhh the only thing he drives is our stock and profit sharing up.

[Nonstop2AUH]

As CEO of a publicly-traded company, this is quite a lapse in judgement. For what he makes, I am sure he can afford to hire a driver (or, more to the point, the company should hire one for him), especially when going to events where drinking is involved. Given late night comedians' penchant for drunken pilot jokes, I wonder if they will be weighing in on this. At least he wasn't wearing a diaper!

[nwafan20]

Alright, lets not turn this into a US vs. NW war...

You know my position on US, I would dissagree that he knows what hes doing but this isn't the place.

[cancidas]

well said hiss!

[T-Bird76]

This is a very poor example of leadership and judgement and certainly does reflect on the decissions he makes professionally and personally.

[Alex T]

Further and confirmed reports show this is not the first time this has happened to Parker.

Such a shame this has happened more then once, it is time for him to be stopped before he kills someone.

Reports state he has had 3 other alcohol related incident back in his tenties too.

Alex

[cancidas]

most of you will know where i'm coming from when i say this: i don't think that the company's money should be spent to drive doug around. however, i do feel that the company should make sure that he does what needs to be done to turn himself around so that this doesn't become a repeating problem.

[Nonstop2AUH]

Many public companies provide the CEO (and often other senior execs) with an annual allowance for personal transportation, including car service with driver. This is actually less of a perk than a security and liability issue. The amounts vary but are usually published in the proxy statement you get each year as a shareholder, and while I don't know what the deal is at LCC, at many companies the car allowance for the CEO can be in the high 5 figures annually.

I have nothing against Parker, he's a great financial executive, but that's all the more reason he should know that when you run a publicly traded company, especially in an industry that is under the sort of spotlight that the airline business is, and you have prior drunk driving issues, you should use your car allowance to get a driver whenever there is a chance of this sort of thing happening.

[Matt Molnar]

The Smoking Gun (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0209071usair1.html):

Parker's Mugshot:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/art3/0209071usair1.jpg

[Matt Molnar]

UPDATE: Parker plead guilty today and was sentenced to serve 24 hours in jail next month.

[Nonstop2AUH]

I wonder if that's standard sentence out there or if he's getting celebrity treatment.

[moose135]

Could be worse, his mug shot could have looked like this...


The Smoking Gun

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/packageart/mugshots/noltemug.jpg