"Georgia airport authority panel rejects ex-Delta CEO"

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Airport panel rejects ex-Delta CEO
Peachtree City feared he did not have time
By KEVIN DUFFY
The Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution


Hollis Harris had been president of Delta Air Lines, president and CEO of
Continental Airlines and chairman and CEO of the cargo carrier World
Airways.

But he wasn't quite good enough for the Peachtree City Airport Authority.

Harris was passed over by a selection committee comprising Mayor Steve
Brown, commissioner Judi-Ann Rutherford, city manager Bernie McMullen and
Airport Authority chairman Jerry Cobb.

The committee chose Gregory Carroll, 38, a Delta employee who is a liaison
to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"I've been called to serve, and I'm not going to second-guess the
circumstances by which I was chosen," Carroll said.

The City Council unanimously approved Carroll, but not before Councilman
Steve Rapson read a statement saying the committee made a mistake.

"I am extremely disappointed that this committee did not select Mr. Hollis
Harris as the best candidate," Rapson said. "When we have citizens of Mr.
Harris' caliber . . . we need to embrace them with open arms."

Rapson asked Harris if he wanted him to recommend his selection, but Harris
declined the offer.

Councilman Murray Weed endorsed Rapson's statement. He compared Harris'
influence to that of Ted Turner, the former media mogul and owner of the
Atlanta Braves.

"If we had an opportunity to put Ted Turner on the tourism association, even
if Mr. Turner made one meeting a year, I for one would vote for Mr. Turner
because he carries that weight," Weed said. "There are things Harris could
do with a single phone call."

Harris was passed over precisely because there were concerns about the time
he could devote to the airport authority, according to Brown. The authority,
which runs Falcon Field, meets monthly. Its five members are required to
attend 80 percent of the meetings.

"Hollis wasn't the first choice of any of the four members," Brown said. "He
wasn't the second choice of three of the four."

Weed said the selection committee exhibited a "paternalistic attitude" in
worrying about Harris' time constraints.

"You have to respect these applicants that they know what they can handle
and what's expected of them," he said. "The selection committee made
assumptions. They were thinking for Mr. Harris."

Harris, 73, declined to discuss the airport authority. After retiring last
year as World Airways' chief executive, he said he's looking for another
job.

"I'd like to be chairman and CEO of another airline," the 36-year resident
of Peachtree City said. Harris said he was offered the top job at a start-up
airline in Columbus, Ohio, but turned it down because it required moving.

Harris is Rapson's neighbor and contributed $1,000 to his campaign for City
Council.

Rapson said that had no bearing on his advocacy of Harris.

"Anybody who thinks that has anything to do with my position on this matter
knows neither me nor Mr. Harris," he said.


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