An elderly couple on their way to El Paso required wheelchairs through the bustling Denver International Airport.
Courteous Frontier Airlines employees wheeled them from the ticket counter, through security, to their gate, and then waited to help them board.
The elderly woman handed a couple of bucks to the cheerful man pushing her husband, but, strangely, the man refused.
“No, take it,” the woman insisted. “In this job you can’t make much money.”
“This isn’t my real job,” the man explained. “I’m just helping today.”
“What’s your real job?” she asked.
“I’m the president.”
Jeff Potter, president and CEO of Frontier Airlines, frequently jumped into the trenches with gate agents and baggage handlers, usually pitching in during holidays and snowstorms.
“I was out there on Christmas Eve, throwing bags and checking people in, and so was Jeff,” said Robin Weisner, a former Frontier communications manager who now works at Johns Manville. “When employees see the CEO out there, they think, ‘We’re not just going to have to suffer through this by ourselves.”‘
Some CEOs are pretentious about being this unpretentious. For them, working beside the hired help is a publicity stunt. Potter, 47, was never this way. In fact, he wasn’t even all that much help.
“My level of truly helping is somewhat limited,” he conceded.
He pitched in, only to the extent that he could, because he wanted to get to know his employees and his customers.
It was this simple: Treat employees with respect, and maybe they will treat customers with respect. This is hardly a novel management concept. But somehow it’s not widely practiced in the airline industry, judging by some of the malcontents at the ticket counters.
A job of luxury
Potter began his aviation career as a dishwasher and soon found a better job as a plane washer. He didn’t finish college, but over the years he worked plenty of jobs at Continental Airlines, McDonnell Douglas, Northwest Airlines and Pacific Southwest Airlines.
Now he is taking a job as CEO of Denver-based Exclusive Resorts, a privately held company that leases out luxury homes to wealthy vacationers. Financed by former America Online executive Steve Case, Exclusive Resorts owns $1 billion worth of luxury residences in 40 of the world’s top vacation destinations.
Potter leaves Frontier on Sept. 6. It’s as hard to imagine Frontier without Potter as it is without Larry the Lynx, Stu the Rabbit or Lucy the Goose on its aircraft.
“I had no reason to look for another job,” Potter said. “I have the best job in the airline industry. This one came to me, and I’m very fortunate that it did.”
Potter was modestly paid for a CEO running a company the size of Frontier – a $311,250 salary and total compensation of $622,829 last year.
He ran a company that drew high praise from employees and customers, but what about from investors?
Frontier’s stock is down more than 70 percent since Potter took the helm in 2002, and it has had only one profitable year since. On Monday, Frontier stock fell more than
6 percent, to $4.89, despite reporting record traffic for July.
I’ve heard speculation that maybe the board asked Potter to leave or that the company is now takeover fodder. But I don’t think there’s any more to it than Potter getting an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Some say that Frontier’s performance under Potter is better than par for the airline industry – which has been plagued with bankruptcies, rising fuel costs, increased security costs and stiffer competition since 9/11.
Many expected Frontier to be in worse shape when discount carrier Southwest Airlines began service at DIA last year.
“For the first time, Southwest has come into a market and found a little company that swings back,” said Evergreen Aviation consultant Mike Boyd. “Frontier has given Southwest a bloody nose.”
Potter will head a company that charges as much as $459,000 for memberships, plus $35,000 in annual dues. His customers – expecting to stay at some of the finest unique locations in the world – will not be so easy to please.
“What makes Exclusive Resorts so successful is what makes Frontier successful,” Potter said. “They deliver on the promise and the experience” that their customers expect.
Al Lewis’ column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Respond to Lewis at , 303-954-1967 or alewis@denverpost.com.
