Rollin W. King is a co-founder and former Director

Executive director

Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...

 of Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...

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Background

Rollin W. King was the Founder and first President of Southwest Airlines Co.and the only Director to serve from 1968 for the next 40 years until his retirement at age 75. He served on the Executive Committee and Audit Committee during that time. After leaving the management of the airline Mr. King engaged in Executive education and consulting as the principal of Rollin King Associates from January 1, 1989 until his retirement on December 31, 1995, and subsequently he has been principally engaged in private investments.

Rollin W. King hired now famous attorney Herbert Kelleher to manage legal affairs for him as was needed. At the time, there was a conversation in which Rollin proposed the idea for what would eventually become Southwest Airlines. A direct quote in the Dallas Morning News disputes the entire "business plan on a cocktail napkin" notion, but King agreed with the reporter of the story that it did make for a great story. It is not widely know, but in 1968 Kelleher tried to talk King out of the idea of starting an airline. From 1968 until 1970 King was responsible for recruiting a Board of Directors, writing the business plan, and raising the money necessary to fund the company's activites aimed at becoming certified by the State of Texas to provide airline service between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.