User:Ngriffis/Floyd D. Hall

Floyd D. Hall

President of Eastern Airlines 1963 to 1975

Floyd D. Hall was born on April 4, 1916 to Weldon and Hattie (Brown) Hall in Lamar, Colorado. He attended local public schools and in 1934 was accepted to the University of Colorado where he initially studied pre-medicine. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in 1938 and soon afterwards joined the Army Air Corps to learn how to fly military aircraft. He completed the two year training period in the summer of 1940 and immediately accepted a job offer from Trans World Airlines to fly professionally as a first officer.

When the United States entered World War II, Hall was called back into the Air Corps. While in the service he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel before his discharge at the end of the war. He rejoined TWA in 1946, where he served for the next ten years as a captain and pilot on cross-country flights. Hall was offered the opportunity of moving from the cockpit to a management position in 1956 when he was named supervisor of flying at TWA in Chicago. He was promoted to assistant manager of flying at the TWA office in Detroit in 1957 and in October of that year became general manager of United States operations. After the war he also studied at the business schools of the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Michigan.

Hall was named to TWA's executive staff and later promoted to general manager of system flight operations in July 1958. He was elected vice-president in charge of flight operations in April 1959 and two months later was advanced to vice-president and general transportation manager. Hall was made a member of TWA's board of directors in April 1961 and senior vice-president and system general manager in September 1961. He was given major credit for improvements in TWA's fiscal management. Hall was made a member of TWA's board of directors in April 1961 and senior vice-president and system general manager in September 1961. He was given major credit for improvements in TWA's fiscal management that changed a $7,000,000 deficit for the first nine months of 1962 into a $12,000,000 profit for the corresponding period of 1963.

The directors of Eastern Air Lines offered Hall the post of president and chief executive officer in November 1963. On December 16, 1963, Floyd D. Hall became president and Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Airlines. He succeeded Malcolm A. Maclntyre, a lawyer who had directed Eastern's affairs since 1959. Hall immediately began to concentrate on delivering top quality service and upgrading Eastern's shuttle flights, which were still operating at a loss. He insisted that Eastern trim the costs of all company operations without neglecting the passengers. He streamlined Eastern aircraft markings, improved the quality and variety of the menus, and introduced free drinks on first class flights. He also launched an aggressive marketing and advertising campaign to get a greater share of the market.

Hall raised on-time performance ratings from second poorest to the best in the industry and arranged flight patterns to get maximum utilization of the new equipment. By averaging more trips per day, the company rapidly raised its capital investment. Hall drew up a detailed plan for Eastern's future growth, with provisions for a profit budget that he believed would boost employee morale and increase efficiency. Despite the innovations, Eastern's financial outlook remained bleak. In December 1964, one year after he became president, Hall reported that his airline was still in the red and shareholders' equity had continued to decline. One of Hall's main objectives in 1965 was to expand Eastern's route structure and radically change the profit picture. An average passenger trip on EAL was more than a hundred miles shorter than that of other airlines and the average hop between cities was similarly shorter for Eastern than for the rest of the industry. The need to satisfy customer demands for jet service forced Eastern to use equipment that was not economically feasible for short-haul flights. The tide turned for Eastern at the end of 1965, when the company showed a profit for the first time since 1959. In July 1965 Eastern petitioned the regulatory agency for permission to become a trans-Pacific airline, providing nonstop service to Hawaii. Hall also requested a license to extend service directly to New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong. In a major reorganization at Eastern in December 1967, Hall was elected chairman of the board and chief executive officer in charge of long-range planning. In 1968 and 1969 Eastern failed to turn a profit. In 1970, Eastern was the only major airline to report an increase in flight traffic, including business routes as well as tourist flights. Floyd Hall resigned from Eastern Airlines in December of 1975.

Hall held directorships in the First National Bank in Miami, the New York Telephone Company, and the manufacturing firm of Cluett, Peabody & Company. He was a trustee of the University of Miami, a member of the New York Urban Coalition, director of the Recording for the Blind, and was New York City's area chair man for the 1969 United States Savings Bonds Campaign. His professional organizations include the National Aeronautical Association and the Air Transport Association of America. He has served as president of the American Management Association, member of the executive committee of the International Air Transport Association, and director of the Transportation Association of America and the New York Air Transport Association. He was also a member of the Sky, Wings, and Economic Club in New York City; Union League, Aero Club, and Metropolitan Club in Washington, D.C.; Mid-Ocean Club in Bermuda; Sleepy Hollow Club; Conquistadores del Cielo; and Blind Book Club. He also belonged to the Council of Consumer Affairs, the Newcomen Society of North America and the Metropolitan Opera Association. Hall married Mary Field of Enid, Oklahoma on November 5, 1939. The couple had two daughters together. They divorced in 1972 and Floyd Hall remarried Kimathea Rand Griffis on November 17, 1973. (see Current Biography, 1970 and Who's Who in America, 1976-1977)