Robert Six

Robert Forman Six (June 25, 1907 – October 6, 1986) was an American businessman who was the CEO of Continental Airlines from 1936 to 1980. Beginning his career in the early days of commercial aviation in the United States, his time as Continental Airlines CEO saw it become one of the world's largest and most profitable legacy airlines.

According to Maverick: The Story of Robert F. Six and Continental Airlines, "Six was one of the last members of the group of innovators, pioneers, and visionaries (including Juan Trippe, William A. Patterson, Jack Frye, C.R. Smith, and Eddie Rickenbacker) who built the U.S. airline industry into what it is today." During Six's time with the airline, Continental grew from a small, three-stop operation into a major global airline with services spanning the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

Early years

Six was born in Stockton, California, and graduated from Weber Grammar School before dropping out of high school at age 17.

He started his business career in sales for a public utility company but was fired for taking flying lessons on company time. Six learned to fly in an Alexander Eaglerock biplane with an OX-5 engine. After about 10 hours of flight time, he received a pilot's license (number 5772) in 1929 at the age of 22. That same year, he bought an OX-5-powered Travel Air biplane from Walter Beech and established the Valley Flying Service. This service sold scenic rides to passengers and was used to race on weekends.

Although many credit Six with founding Continental Airlines, Walter Varney and Louis Mueller established it in 1934 as Varney Speed Lines. Mueller gained control of the carrier in 1936 and sold 40% of the company to Six. In July 1937, Six changed the name of Varney Speed Lines to Continental Airlines. The carrier moved its headquarters to Denver, Colorado, which served as the airline's central hub for the next 45 years.

World War II and the postwar years

Under Robert Six's leadership in the 1940s and 1950s, Continental Airlines expanded its aircraft fleet using profits from World War II. During this war, Six contracted for the airline to provide air transportation to the military, train aircrews, and perform military aircraft modification work at its Denver maintenance facilities. Six served as a lieutenant colonel during the war in the United States Army Air Corps and later as a reserve officer in charge of his airline's bomber modification center. He also helped improve routes to ferry American aircraft to the European theater, significantly reducing aircraft losses due to weather. Before the war ended, he returned to Continental and resumed his leadership role.

In 1951, Six met Broadway legend Ethel Merman in a New York city nightclub. Following a courtship, they married in 1953. Merman took a break from her Broadway career and moved to Colorado with him, settling into a 27-room mansion in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, near Denver. Merman's son, Bob Levitt Jr., recounted that life with Six became oppressive. According to Levitt, he and his mother, sister, and elderly grandparents suffered emotional and physical violence from a regularly explosive Six, who was called Big Meanie by his stepchildren. Merman found Denver's society rural and limited compared to New York. Six and Merman divorced in 1960. From Six's perspective, Merman had failed him by not becoming a public relations prop for Continental.

In 1953, Continental merged with Pioneer Airlines, gaining access to 16 more cities in Texas and New Mexico. This merger allowed Continental Airlines to operate routes between Texas and Colorado/New Mexico, connecting with the line's Denver-Albuquerque-El Paso services.

Dramatic expansion and move to Los Angeles

By the end of the 1950s, Continental Airlines had seen a broad expansion of its routes. In 1957, it flew for the first time from Chicago to Los Angeles (both non-stop and via Denver), and from Denver and Los Angeles to Kansas City. Continental was one of the first operators of the Boeing 707, taking its first delivery of 707s in the spring of 1959. Six, unsatisfied with jet service alone, significantly improved the airline's services, described as "nothing short of luxurious" by the Los Angeles Times, and, "clearly, the finest in the airline industry" by the Chicago Tribune.

In 1961, Six married Hollywood star Audrey Meadows of The Honeymooners television fame after meeting her in Honolulu. She served as an advisory director on Continental's board, offering many suggestions that made Continental's in-flight and ground services preeminent. The Six family was socially prominent in Beverly Hills, California, where they lived. Meadows' television and acting career helped the Sixes meet prominent Hollywood stars such as John Wayne, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, and Bob Hope. The couple spent many weekends at their Lazy 6 Ranch near Montrose, Colorado, where Hollywood stars were frequent guests.

In 1963, Continental moved its headquarters from Denver to Los Angeles, coinciding with the rapid growth of the carrier's route network. Continental added all-jet service from Los Angeles to Houston, with non-stop flights and services via Phoenix, Tucson, Arizona, El Paso, Midland/Odessa, Texas, Austin, and San Antonio. Additionally, they offered flights from Denver to Seattle, Portland, New Orleans, and Houston, both non-stop and with services via Wichita and Tulsa/Oklahoma City. Continental was also selected to serve the route from the Pacific Northwest to San Jose and Ontario, California. In 1969, the airline introduced a service between Los Angeles and Honolulu/Hilo. Its first Boeing 747s were delivered in May 1970, and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s were added to the fleet in 1971, enabling Continental to carry its increasing traffic on key routes between Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, and Seattle.

During the Vietnam War, Continental provided cargo and troop transportation for the United States Army and U.S. Marine Corps to Asian and Pacific bases. Continental's 707s were the most common non-military aircraft transiting Saigon's Tan Son Nhat airport. As a result of Continental's experience in Pacific operations, the company established the subsidiary Air Micronesia. This subsidiary operated island-hopping routes between Yap/Majuro/Saipan/Guam and Honolulu using Boeing 727 aircraft. One of Six's long-cherished goals was for Continental to become a major player in the Pacific basin, which the airline would achieve only after his retirement.

At Six's insistence, Continental (along with Pan Am and Trans World Airlines) was a launch airline for the Boeing 747 aircraft. Its upper-deck first-class lounge won awards worldwide for the most refined cabin interior among all airlines, as did meal services developed by Continental's Cordon Bleu-trained executive chefs. Continental's 747 services from Chicago and Denver to Los Angeles and Honolulu set the standard for service in the western U.S. When asked by one Denver customer service agent in 1974 why he flew Continental wherever he could, Hollywood star Henry Fonda remarked, "This operation is class; strictly class!" However, Continental's 747 service ceased during the 70s when the airline concluded that the DC-10 was better suited to the route structure and passenger loads.

Triumph and loss

After the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Continental expanded rapidly, as did many U.S. carriers. Within two years, new non-stop services from its Denver and Houston–Intercontinental hubs included New York–LaGuardia, New York–JFK, Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington–National, Washington–Dulles, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Dallas Fort Worth, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Milwaukee, St Louis, Las Vegas, Reno, San Jose (CA), and San Francisco, as well as many smaller cities in the Midwest and Western United States. New international routes also began to London–Gatwick, Tokyo–Narita, Manila, Sydney, and Melbourne, along with more Mexico destinations than any other carrier. This rapid growth required the expansion of Continental's existing fleet of 747, DC-10, 727-200, and DC-9 aircraft with large numbers of MD-80, 737-model, and Airbus aircraft. Alliances were also formed with larger commuter airlines in Houston and Denver to serve smaller communities in the Rocky Mountains, Plains, and Southwest.

In 1981, Texas Air Corporation, controlled by airline industry entrepreneur Frank Lorenzo, acquired a controlling interest in Continental Airlines. The acquisition followed a contentious battle for control with Continental's management, including Six and then-CEO Alvin Feldman, who were adamant in their resistance to Lorenzo. Continental's labor unions joined the anti-takeover battle over fears of "Lorenzo's deregulation tactics" and his prior dealings with airline labor unions. However, Lorenzo prevailed, and in June 1982, Texas International Airlines, controlled by Texas Air, was merged into Continental Airlines. Texas International ceased to exist, but the new Continental moved its headquarters to Houston, home of Texas Air.

In spite of labor friction and turmoil resulting from the acquisition, by the time of Six's death in 1986, the airline he pioneered had become one of the largest airlines in the United States, centered on the busy Denver, Houston, and New York/Newark hubs.

Six died in his sleep at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on October 6, 1986.

Legacy and honors

In 1971, Six was nominated and inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame.

In June 1974, Six was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Colorado at Boulder. He was the 1977 recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation.

In 1980, he was inducted into the U.S. National Aviation Hall of Fame at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

Six was a key player in the revealed mystery of the third episode of Starlee Kine's Gimlet Media-produced podcast "Mystery Show".

In 2011, United Airlines, which merged with Continental Airlines, named a plane (N77006) after Robert Six.

References

Sources

• Buckley, William F. Jr. (September 17, 1980). "Frank Lorenzo & the free market". National Review.
• Delaney, Kevin J. (1999). Strategic Bankruptcy: How Corporations and Creditors Use Chapter 11 to Their Advantage. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-07359-2.
• Customer Service Manual (1970 ed.). Continental Airlines.