One CEO takes a noble stand
Gerard J. Arpey may be “the only airline CEO who regarded bankruptcy not simply as a financial tool but, more important, as a moral failing,” said D. Michael Lindsay at The New York Times.
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
D. Michael Lindsay
The New York Times
The business world got a rare glimpse last week of a CEO with moral backbone, said D. Michael Lindsay. Gerard J. Arpey, the chief of American Airlines, resigned “with no severance package and nearly worthless stock holdings” after 30 years with the company because he found the airline’s decision to declare bankruptcy “morally wrong.” American is the last of the legacy airlines to go into Chapter 11, a tactic that allows carriers to “cancel their debt, get rid of responsibility for employee pensions, and renegotiate more favorable contracts with labor unions.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Arpey long opposed that strategy, though he acknowledges that American suffered against competitors that profited by axing pensions and medical benefits. Of the hundreds of executives I’ve interviewed for a study about leadership, Arpey stands out for believing that a CEO is obliged to honor a company’s moral obligations, “even if doing so blunts financial success.” He may be “the only airline CEO who regarded bankruptcy not simply as a financial tool but, more important, as a moral failing.” He leaves with his honor intact, but his departure is a “troubling commentary on American business.”
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Issue of the week: Do high-speed traders rig the market?
feature Wall Street is abuzz over high-frequency trading.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Issue of the week: How Yellen spooked the markets
feature At her first press conference, the new Federal Reserve chair made the mistake of indicating when the Fed would raise interest rates.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Stop calling women ‘bossy’
feature Let’s ban “She’s bossy.” Instead, let’s try, “She has executive leadership skills.”
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Issue of the week: GM’s recall disaster
feature Mary Barra is facing “her first big test” since she took over as GM’s new CEO in January: a recall of more than 1.6 million vehicles.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Issue of the week: Who gets Fannie’s and Freddie’s profits?
feature Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s shareholders want their money back.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Issue of the week: Comcast buying Time Warner Cable
feature Has Comcast won the cable wars?
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Issue of the week: AOL’s million-dollar babies
feature AOL’s “gaffe-prone” CEO, Tim Armstrong, “got in some hot water” last week.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Issue of the week: Why Google unloaded Motorola
feature Three years after shelling out $12.5 billion for Motorola, Google announced its sale to Lenovo Group for $2.9 billion.
By The Week Staff Last updated