Longtime Delta Air Lines executive Hollis Harris remained a popular figure at the Atlanta company even after he bolted to rival Continental toward the end of his career.
A few years later, when Delta was seeking a new CEO, some employees mounted a draft-Harris campaign.
Harris never officially returned to Delta, but his heart never really left, said his son, Jeff Harris.
“Delta was really in his blood,” he said of his father. He was “so passionate about the company… . Delta was a big family, a family atmosphere.”
Hollis Harris, of Peachtree City, died Thursday after battling Alzheimer’s. He was 84.
Harris, president and chief operating officer of Atlanta-based Delta from 1987 to 1990, was a native of Carrollton. His 36 years at the company spanned an era of remarkable growth and change for both the industry and Delta.
“Hollis was a beloved leader at Delta and one of the people whose shoulders we stand proudly on,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a written statement. “We all will miss him.”
Harris started working at Delta in 1954, when still an aeronautical engineering student at Georgia Tech. He rose through the airline’s ranks from the engineering department to upper management.
“It was a dream of his to become president,” Jeff Harris said. He was “an icon at Delta Air Lines, because he was a people person … When we traveled he would go down to the ramp and pull out his business cards and meet all the workers.”
His folksy demeanor made him a favorite with employees and helped propel him to the No. 2 executive spot, but he never got the top job as CEO at Delta.
Harris left Delta in 1990 to become CEO of Houston-based Continental, succeeding the controversial Frank Lorenzo. At the time he was the highest-ranked Delta executive to ever leave for another carrier.
“To think about making a change took a lot of soul-searching,” Harris told the AJC at the time. “But I have always wanted to be the chief executive of a major corporation, and especially an airline.”
Continental was troubled and within months entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Harris left in 1991 and later took the helm at Air Canada from 1992 to 1996.
After leaving Air Canada, Harris embarked on a short-lived effort to launch a new airline in California called CalJet.
In 1997, when Delta CEO Ron Allen was forced to retire, some Delta employees lobbied the airline’s board of directors to consider bringing Harris back, saying it would boost morale. Leo Mullin was ultimately selected as Allen’s successor.
Harris still had one more airline career stop. In 1999 he became CEO of charter carrier World Airways and moved its headquarters to Peachtree City. He retired from the company in 2004. World Airways has since ceased operations, shutting down in 2014 after attempting to restructure under Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
More recently, Harris was on the advisory board to Propeller Investments, a private equity firm that sought unsuccessfully to commercialize Gwinnett County’s Briscoe Field and is now seeking to commercialize Paulding County’s airport.
Harris was inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame in 2005.
“My dad came from humble beginnings,” Jeff Harris said. “He was a preacher’s kid and they were very poor and he was very smart and had a lot of drive and determination.”
At age 12, Harris was diagnosed with leukemia and fully recovered. After high school he served in the Army during the Korean War as a battery commander in Germany.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Joyce Entrekin Harris, and is survived by his three children, Patricia, David and Jeff.
Visitation will be Sunday 4 to 7 p.m. at C.J. Mowell Funeral Home in Peachtree City. Services will be Monday July 18 at 1 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 206 Willowbend Road in Peachtree City.
About the Author
