Maurice Meyers
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Maurice Meyers
Keeping busy is how former Aloha Airlines president and CEO Maurice Myers likes to live his life. While his former place of employment celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, Myers is enjoying his semi-retirement, spending time with family and swinging his clubs on the golf course.
“I left Aloha Airlines after 10 years in 1993 and went to America West Airlines as president while it was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy,” says the Honolulu resident. “I was there for two years with a team getting them out of Chapter 11.”
In 1995, Myers went to Yellow Trucking, which was the biggest trucking company in America, and “they were struggling,” he says.
Waste Management in Houston, Texas, a company that has a storied past with accounting and mismanagement, was Myers’ next career stop in 1999. He then moved to the Lone Star State and worked with a team to get Waste Management back on track.
“I guess I gained a rep as someone who could work with troubled companies,” says MidWeek’s cover subject from January 1990.
“It’s all transportation. At Aloha, we did a lot of freight, so you’re familiar with the market, the company needed to be rein-vigorated. They had more than 40,000 trucks, so that was a tiein to where I’d been,” Myers explains.
After five years with WM, in November 2004, Myers left the corporate scene and came back to Hawaii.
“We had kept our house here in Hawaii the whole time. Hawaii was really home. These (Mainland locations) are garden spots along the way,” he says.
Myers is married to his wife of 46 years, Jean, and has three daughters: Michele, a graduate of HPU, daughter Tracy attended Mid-Pac and then went to the Mainland, and Leanne is a Punahou grad. The couple also lives with their dogs, Frank and Sushi, two Shih Tzus.
“We have seven grandchildren, including two sets of twins,” adds the proud granddad.
Because his nature is to “always be busy,” Myers currently serves on three boards - Tesoro Corp., Hawaiian Electric Industries Board and Oceanic Time Warner Cable Advisory Board. He also invested in an Australian company, BIS and Clean Away, the country’s second largest waste company.
“We travel as much as we can,” he adds. “The primary difference now is I create my own schedule. It’s a nicer situation.
“The other thing I do is play golf badly. We can’t all be Michelle Wie and Tiger Woods. Trouble is, all my friends are taking my money,” laughs the 66-year-old. “It’s amazing how time went by and I got so old. I used to think 66 was really old. Now I’m changing my mind.”
- Kerry Miller
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