Posted By Mark Scarp

By MARK J. SCARP, SABEW Staff

PHOENIX, Aug. 5, 2010 — The chairmen of the board and chief executive officers of two major U.S. airlines — American and Southwest — will speak to business journalists at SABEW’s 48th annual conference in Dallas next spring, conference organizers announced today.

Gerard Arpey, chairman and CEO of American Airlines’ parent, AMR Corp., and Southwest Airlines’ chairman and CEO Gary Kelly will jointly appear to speak and answer questions from moderator Terry Maxon, the Dallas Morning  News’ airline industry reporter, said conference coordinator Pamela Yip, the News’ personal finance columnist.

Some facts about Arpey from American Airlines’ website:

• Arpey was elected chairman of AMR Corp. and American Airlines Inc. in May 2004. Arpey had been president and chief executive officer of AMR and American since April 2003, when he was first elected a member of the board of directors of both companies. Prior to that, he had served as president and chief operating officer of AMR and American since April 2002.

• He leads a global organization that includes American Airlines, American Eagle and AmericanConnection, serving approximately 250 cities in 40 countries and territories around the world. The combined network offers, on average, more than 3,400 flights a day with nearly 900 aircraft.

• Before his appointment as president and COO, Arpey served as the American’s executive vice president of operations, senior vice president of finance and planning, as well as its chief financial officer and senior vice president of planning.

• Arpey’s career at American Airlines started in 1982 as a financial analyst.

Some facts about Gary Kelly from Southwest Airlines’ website:

• Kelly serves as the chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer at Southwest Airlines. A 23-year Southwest veteran who became CFO in 1989, Gary has worked closely with Southwest’s legendary co-founder and Chairman Emeritus Herb Kelleher and President Emeritus Colleen Barrett to build the nation’s largest airline in terms of passengers.

• Kelly began his career at Southwest Airlines as controller, moving up to chief financial officer and vice president-finance, then executive vice president and chief financial officer, before being promoted to CEO and vice chairman in July 2004. Gary assumed the role of chairman in May 2008 and president in July 2008. Prior to joining Southwest Airlines in 1986, Gary was a CPA for Arthur Young & Company in Dallas and Controller for Systems Center, Inc.

• Southwest Airlines is celebrating 37 years of consecutive profitability and was named #1 in Customer Satisfaction by the Department of Transportation for the year 2009. For the 13th year in a row, Fortune magazine listed Southwest Airlines among the world’s most admired corporations.