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Thomas Cooper is president and chief executive officer of Miami-based Gulfstream International Airlines. He attended the University of North Carolina from 1954 to 1957, and graduated from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 1973, with a Bachelor of Science degree in management.
Cooper was hired by Eastern Airlines in 1962 as a pilot and was promoted to captain in 1973. He also has been associated, as an investor and manager, with several commuter carriers, most notably Air Florida Commuter. After the failure of Eastern Airlines in January 1991, Cooper established Gulfstream.
C/R News spoke to Cooper in his Miami office - located in the old Pan Am Miami headquarters building - where he talked about Gulfstream's relationship with United, the transition to Part 121 operations, potential fleet choices and future plans for the airline. Q. What is Gulfstream doing in response to Southwest's entry into Florida? A. We parallel two of their routes, Ft. Lauderdale-Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale-Tampa. We have been in the Ft. Lauderdale-Orlando market for quite some time, so we have some historical data there to compare our pre-Southwest traffic versus what it is now. We have not noticed any deterioration in our traffic between Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando, an established route, and we're very happy with the Ft. Lauderdale- Tampa market. Q. How did the deal with the Sandals resort come about and do you foresee doing any other deals with other resorts in the Bahamas? A. The Sandals arrangement, whereby we paint one of our aircraft in a livery designed by them, came about through negotiations between their marketing and sales people and our senior VP...