Southwest Airlines' Founder and Chairman Emeritus Herbert D. Kelleher has passed away on January 3, at the age of 87.
Southwest Airlines honored Kelleher as a pioneer, a maverick, and an innovator, whose vision revolutionized commercial aviation and democratized the skies. Kelleher has served as Southwest Airlines Executive Chairman from March 1978 to May 2008 and as President and CEO from September 1981 through June 2001.