Earth:Conquistadores del Cielo
Conquistadores del Cielo (Spanish for "Conquerors of the Sky") is a secretive club of high-level airline and aerospace industry executives. It was created in 1937[1] and incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1941[2] with EIN 95-6092475. As of 2017, Mary Nagelmann was the organization's full-time Executive Director and sole employee[2]. The organization has $1.2m in annual revenue and spends nearly all of its money on two annual retreats[2]. The Conquistadores were first named in a major media publication in 2010 as airline executives who were attending a Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit were leaving to go to Wyoming[3].
The Conquistadores' first leader was Jack Frye, the president of Trans World Airlines.[1].
Stephen Wolf, Robert Crandall, David Barger, and Gary Kelly have been members[4]. 2015 members listed on the annual IRS filing include Tom Enders, Scott C. Donnelly, Mark Dunkerley (CEO of Hawaiian Airlines until 2018), Daniel Altobello (Retired Chairman of Mesa Airlines), and Marillyn Hewson. 2016 members also include Marc Parent (CEO of CAE Inc.), Jerry Atkin, John R. Dailey, Robert Fornaro, Randall Greene (CEO of Safe Flight Instrument Corp.), David P. Hess (EVP at United Technologies), Dawne Hickton, David L. Joyce (CEO of GE Aviation), C. Jeffrey Knittel (CEO of Airbus Americas), Lloyd W. Newton, Kelly Ortberg (CEO of Collins Aerospace), Curtis Reusser (CEO of Esterline), Christian Scherer (Chief Commercial Officer of Airbus), Terry Stinson (former CEO of Bell Helicopter), and Jeffrey L. Turner (of Rockwell Collins and Spirit AeroSystems). 2017 members also include Daniel Crowley (CEO of Triumph Group), Cindy Egnotovich (formerly of UTC Aerospace, now Collins Aerospace), Paul Funchino (partner at AE Industrial Partners), August Henningsen (formerly CEO of Lufthansa Technik), and David Melcher.[2]
Tom Horton and Doug Parker allegedly first discussed merging American Airlines and US Airways at a meeting of the Conquistadores in fall 2011[1][5][6].
The Conquistadores became more visible at the public memorial service for Herb Kelleher, when Hudson Drake, an executive with Boeing and Teledyne Technologies as well as a White House Fellow for the Johnson and Nixon administrations, gave a eulogy for Herb. In the short talk, he revealed that the Conquistadores' spring meeting rotates throughout the world and that Herb was initiated in 1990. Conquistadores receive a green jacket and 25-year members receive a yellow jacket. Both Hudson and Herb were at least 25-year members. Herb received the "Big Horse Award", the club's highest honor, in 2005[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Graham, Christopher Fox (15 May 2018). "Airline executives arriving Thursday at Sedona Airport for annual meeting". Sedona Red Rock News. http://www.redrocknews.com/news/88888896-city-news/78688-airline-executives-arriving-thursday-at-sedona-airport-for-annual-meeting.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Conquistadores Del Cielo - GuideStar Profile". https://www.guidestar.org/profile/95-6092475.
- ↑ Hepher, Tim (9 September 2010). "Revealed: Why ‘Conquerors of the Skies’ are homing on Wyoming". Reuters. http://blogs.reuters.com/summits/2010/09/09/revealed-why-conquerors-of-the-skies-are-homing-on-wyoming/.
- ↑ Pesek, Joe (17 March 2017). "Conquistadores del Cielo: The Secret Club of Top Airline Executives". AirlineGeeks. https://airlinegeeks.com/2017/03/17/conquistadores-del-cielo-the-secret-club-of-top-airline-executives/.
- ↑ "American Airlines CEO Tom Horton, US Airways CEO Doug Parker and Los Conquistadores del Cielo". D Magazine. 25 July 2012. https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2012/07/american-airlines-ceo-tom-horton-us-airways-ceo-doug-parker-and-los-conquistadores-del-cielo/.
- ↑ Mayerowitz, Scott (19 February 2013). "Tom Horton and Doug Parker both wanted to run American Airlines; how 1 ultimately relented". Associated Press. https://news.yahoo.com/tom-horton-doug-parker-both-wanted-run-american-200736500.html.
- ↑ Southwest Airlines. "Celebration of Life". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIOXbmwk5Mo&t=2h1m57s.
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