Bob Young Plugs In for Airline’s Extensive Technology Projects
DALLAS—August 15, 2008 – Southwest Airlines announced today that Bob Young joins the Dallas-based airline as its new Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
For a photo of Bob Young, please use this link (http://gallery.swamedia.com/photos).
Young will lead Southwest’s Infrastructure Teams including Change, Test
and Deployment, Application and Data Architecture, Tech Services Operations
Support, and Tech Services Field Support and Engineering. He joins the Technology family led by Jan Marshall, Southwest’s Vice President Technology and Chief Information Officer; Laurie Hulin, Vice President Aircraft Operations and Enterprise Management; and Darren Dayley, Vice President Customer Experience Portfolio. These departments are vital in driving and supporting the airline’s extensive technology projects needed to meet such corporate goals as re-launching the carrier’s award-winning frequent flyer program in 2009, expanding its codeshare relationships to international destinations, and exploring the potential for onboard wireless Internet.
“With so much work to do and the excitement we all feel about these projects, we are thrilled to have someone with Bob’s energy and background on our team to help carry all of this momentum forward,” said Bob Jordan, Southwest’s Executive Vice President Strategy and Planning.
Young brings with him extensive experience in the areas of Data Center Operations, architecture, and applications development. Most recently, Young was employed by a large, well-known, U.S. - based electronics products company, where he was responsible for support of a large business unit with annual revenues of $15-20 billion. His responsibilities also included global marketing and global go-to-market organizations with IT teams across ten countries.
Young has served his country as an Officer and Naval Aviator with the United States Navy. He earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn. and a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Penn.
After 37 years of service, Southwest Airlines, the nation’s leading low-fare carrier, continues to stand above other airlines—offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the most productive airline in the sky and offers Customers a comfortable traveling experience with premium all leather seats and plenty of legroom. Southwest recently updated its gate areas and improved its boarding procedure to make flying Southwest Airlines even more convenient and simple. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), the nation's largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers enplaned, currently serves 64 cities in 32 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 34,000 Employees systemwide.