10 TO WATCH IN 2003:
MARK DUNKERLEYMark Dunkerley has been almost everywhere in the airline business, in the process landing around the world. Now he is in the cockpit of Hawaiian Airlines and says he is looking at a tough year ahead but a bright future for the airline. Change awaits new president
of Hawaiian Airlines
By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com
Dunkerley, 39, was named Dec. 16 as the new president and chief operating officer of Hawaiian. He was born in Bogota, Colombia, of British parents but was raised in Washington, D.C. He is a naturalized American citizen.
Hawaii is a new challenge but he feels ready for it, said Dunkerley.
This is going to be "a year of enormous change for airlines," he said. Unless you've been living in space, you know that the airline industry is "in a terrible, terrible time," he said.
"The future for Hawaiian and other airlines is to use this terrible time as a catalyst for change," he said, which means finding the best way of delivering quality customer service at a decent return for shareholders.
"It's going to be a difficult, difficult year, but this is a cyclical industry. It will come back," Dunkerley said. "It is very important that we use the opportunity of this year to get in position for the future."
The Star-Bulletin is spotlighting 10 people who may have a big impact on Hawaii this year.
Dunkerley has been in the air and on the ground in the industry. He is a licensed commercial pilot. His start in the business was in 1985 as assistant to the chief executive officer of Miami International Airport.
For about a year in 1999-2000, he was chief operating officer of Worldwide Flight Services, a Texas-based international provider of ground services to the aviation business.
"We had 10,000 employees, unskilled and semiskilled," he said. He said he has enjoyed meeting with Hawaiian's skilled maintenance and ramp people.
His biggest airline job, however, was the decade he spent with British Airways, rising through management jobs to become senior vice president of its Latin America/Caribbean division from 1997 to 1999, when he left to join Worldwide.
In April 2001, Dunkerley joined Roberts, Roach & Associates in Washington as executive vice president. He describes it as "a boutique aviation consulting practice" that deals with the strategic and economic aspects of civil aviation.
For a time he was on loan from that firm to Sabena Airlines Group, the Belgian International Carrier, and had the job of chief operating officer. Sabena went through an ownership change and bankruptcy, and Dunkerley was released last April. His old job at Roberts, Roach was not there anymore, but he was ready for new challenges.
"I'm certainly bringing excitement and enthusiasm for the situation we have here at Hawaiian Airlines," he said. "I enjoy working with people, and I enjoy working in a situation where change is needed."
