Let the words fly

Like it or not, aviation consultant speaks his mind

Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News

Saturday, December 2, 2006

Mike Boyd is known for his candid, oftentimes controversial opinions on everything from airline bankruptcies to airport security.

The 58-year-old Evergreen aviation consultant peppers his comments with offbeat analogies and metaphors, landing him on front pages and evening newscasts across the nation.

He has compared problems at Denver International Airport to Vietnam and disgruntled airline passengers to monkeys.

He's been a vocal critic of a move by United Airlines to shift part of its fleet to a new discount arm called Ted, dubbing it "the most expensive paint job in history."

He's bashed some airline executives for questionable strategic decisions and huge pay packages, even though it could cost him their business.

And he frequently takes the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to task, painting the organization in charge of airport screening as an ineffective, bumbling and reactionary bureaucracy.

"So, now we're all going to be sitting on airplanes, with no ChapStick, no makeup, no lip gloss and no mascara," Boyd said when the TSA temporarily banned all liquids, gels and creams from carry-on bags. "Unless the terrorist is a part-time hooker, this won't do anything except make the coach cabin even less attractive."

Many industry insiders associate Boyd with his colorful - some say outlandish - quotes, which have made him the go-to guy for major cable news networks, national radio programs and newspapers looking for insight and opinions on the aviation industry.

But he's also known for the profitable, growing aviation company he and his wife founded more than two decades ago.

Boyd is outspoken in both the business and media worlds, subscribing to a tell-it-like-it-is philosophy that has earned him kudos - and critics - in the aviation industry.

"Mike is as good as they get," said Gordon Bethune, former chief executive officer of Continental Airlines and current chairman of Aloha Airlines. "His business is giving advice, and if you want someone who lays it out and gives it to you whether it's good or bad, Mike's the right person. You have to have confidence in yourself to like Mike."

Born into the airlines

Boyd, whose public image looms larger than his 5-foot-4-inch frame, says he developed his edginess early on as one of the smaller kids on the playground. Growing up, he used humor rather than fists to carry him through sticky situations.

"When you're shorter than most everybody else, you learn real quick that the physical route to solving problems leads to being flattened into a tortilla," Boyd said. "But being 5-foot-4 I think is my best asset, because it means I had to learn to rely on wit instead of physical presence."

Born in New York, Boyd grew up with jet fuel in his blood.

His father was a vice president at American Airlines, and his mother was one of the carrier's first flight attendants.

Boyd wasn't exactly intent on following their footsteps. After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in social science - what Boyd calls "advanced high school" - he stumbled into the airline business, primarily because he wasn't exactly sure what to do.

"I remember standing at La Guardia Airport, and my father pointing to the guy behind the desk. He said, 'Son, when you graduate, why don't you look into a job like that?' " Boyd said. "I said 'A clerk? In a little blue suit writing little tickets? Not me.' A year later I was there, in the same blue suit, working as a ramp agent for American Airlines."

Thus began Boyd's airline career, which quickly blossomed into management jobs at American, including positions in labor relations, accounting and the refund department.

Boyd went on to work in management at the now-defunct Braniff International Airways, where he met his wife, Marian. Still in his late 20s, Boyd helped open the carrier's Hong Kong and Guam operations before the once-mighty airline went bankrupt.

It was at Braniff where Boyd found that his ability to defuse tense situations with humor would serve him well in the business world.

During a grievance hearing with union members, Boyd got into a heated argument with a 6-foot-6-inch, 250-pound Teamster shop steward. As the situation worsened, Boyd stood up and said, "Friend, if you call me that again, I'm going to beat you senseless . . . just as soon as I can find a stepladder."

"It broke the tension instead of getting my head broken," Boyd said, "which had been about to happen."

Higher aspirations

After Braniff's demise in the early 1980s, Boyd worked at a commuter carrier called Bar Harbor Airlines - "two years of utter, absolute heaven" - before a quick stint trying to save a tiny carrier from bankruptcy in Philadelphia.

But he had aspirations that extended beyond middle management.

"When I was at American I saw a lot of people whose whole career path was to stay at the company and retire as the manager of fare analysis or something," Boyd said. "That to me would be like ending up in a transient hotel, dying by yourself."

With the prodding of Marian, he decided to branch out and start his own company. The couple, both avid skiers, chose to base the new venture in Idaho Springs - one of several towns where Boyd owned real estate.

Boyd and Marian boot- strapped Aviations Systems Research Inc. into business in 1984 using their own money, focusing on consulting work for the growing regional airline business. It wasn't long before the company expanded, shifting its focus to producing independent studies on everything including the effectiveness of code shares and forecasts on industry demand for new aircraft.

"That's really how we got our name out there," Boyd said. "Because we're independent and not beholden to a huge company or the (Federal Aviation Administration) or something, we can say what we think. That got people to call us."

DIA 'helped make us'

The real spark came in the early 1990s, when Boyd entered the limelight both locally and nationally through his often-scathing comments regarding the construction of Denver International Airport - a massive project fraught with controversy, cost overruns and delays.

He became one of the most-vocal critics of the airport, arguing that it was a colossal waste of taxpayer money and that, with the proper plans, city officials could expand at the existing Stapleton International Airport.

Others, though, thought he was full of hot air.

Boyd made numerous enemies in Denver during that period, as he criticized everyone including then-Mayor Federico Peña, then-Gov. Roy Romer and the Denver City Council.

"Mike was one of two major detractors," said Susan Barnes- Gelt, a Denver councilwoman during the initial planning and development of DIA. "There wasn't a day that Boyd wasn't saying something negative about the airport. I'd get up in morning, have a cup of coffee and read a Mike Boyd quote. He made it much more difficult for us to actually get things done."

Barnes-Gelt and others involved in the early days of the airport say history has proved that Boyd was way off the mark. DIA, by many measures, is thriving. Its largest tenants are growing, it has new international flights, and it has lured a host of low-cost service to town. Airfares and airport costs have come down, debt ratings are solid, and passenger traffic is up by more than 10 percent so far this year.

"Boyd coined the famous line before DIA opened that in 18 months the airport would need a federal bailout," said Tom Clark, president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. "All the doom and gloom that he forecast was not realized. It wasn't a very good call on his part."

Boyd, though, sticks by his initial assessment, saying building DIA was less efficient and more costly than expanding at Stapleton would have been. And he admits that the controversy surrounding the airport was a big boost for business.

"DIA helped make us," Boyd said. "There were a lot of people out there saying that 'these people are telling it straight.' And that's why we have a lot of business today."

Far from the Beltway

To find Boyd today, drive 30 miles west of Denver on Interstate 70, wind along a short access road and ascend a steep driveway to a building that looks more like a house than an office.

It is here, perched at 7,980 feet above sea level on a hill in Evergreen, where he runs his company, now called The Boyd Group.

It's an odd location for such a business. Evergreen is at least an hour's drive from a major airport, and it's even farther from the nation's aviation epicenters .

"There's a stigma in this industry of 'you're not in Washington D.C.?' " Boyd said. "But anything you can do in Washington you can do here except your car doesn't get stripped."

The location certainly hasn't seemed to hurt The Boyd Group.

The company rakes in more than $2 million in annual revenue and now has six workers. It has provided consulting to leading aviation companies such as Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines and Boeing, and it has carved out a consulting niche helping small communities land air service. It's also become known for its forecasts and studies, which some in the industry say are often ahead of the curve.

On top of that, The Boyd Group hosts what's become a popular annual aviation conference that attracts more than 200 attendees and lands big-name speakers.

Critics abound

Long removed from the DIA days, Boyd continues to offer up controversial opinions - and he still has a fair share of critics. Several of his biggest detractors are airline insiders, government agencies and even other consultants, although none contacted by the Rocky Mountain News were willing to talk on the record.

Some say Boyd's comments occasionally are inflammatory or off the mark. Others say he's purposely controversial for business reasons and that he's out of touch because he hasn't worked at an airline since the early 1980s.

Boyd acknowledges the criticisms, saying there's likely some truth to them.

"I've got no problem with people taking shots at me," Boyd said. "As long as you can get up and brush yourself off and say, 'I think I did the right thing,' you're fine."

He says he's an "acquired taste" and admits that sometimes he's wrong. He also agrees that his media image can be self-serving.

"It is entirely accurate in that being different and controversial does raise the profile for the business," Boyd said. "I can't, however, take credit for it being on a planned or organized basis that is aimed at bringing in some new clients, even though it does from time to time."

Boyd, who uses colorful metaphors even in casual conversation, points out that he doesn't actively seek media interviews. Rather, it's the media that come to him. In October alone, he was quoted more than 30 times in newspapers, magazines and other publications, according to research by the News.

"CNBC doesn't call me a couple times a month because of my pretty face," he said. "It's because of the insight we give them."

Industry respect

That candor is exactly what's also earned him respect from many industry players, including the likes of Frontier Airlines chief Jeff Potter, Southwest Airlines head Gary Kelley and other executives.

"I think he's refreshing," said Tim Griffin, executive vice president of marketing at Northwest Airlines, which recently brought in Boyd to speak to employees. "He tends to be clear and candid and pithy. I think Mike's comments are pretty solid, and they're delivered in a way to make it interesting."

Some of The Boyd Group's clients have been on the receiving end of his criticisms, while others have disagreed with his findings only to find out later they were spot on.

Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer, a longtime client, once asked The Boyd Group to study the market for the company's new turboprop plane. The Boyd Group determined that the company would struggle to sell the plane, but Embraer forged ahead with it anyway.

"We went ahead and launched it, and it was not a success," said Mark Hale, Embraer's vice president of airline marketing and sales. "Boyd tells it like it is. I think he's basically quite respected across the industry."

Boyd also has managed to garner accolades from people who don't always see eye to eye with him.

"He has a positive reputation nationwide, as does his company," said Tom Healy, formerly United Airlines' managing director of sales in Denver. "I always listened to what he had to say, even though often he saw things differently than I did. And you can bet that people in headquarters knew who he was."

Sticking around

Although Boyd is the prominent face of his company, he is quick to point out that Marian is the behind-the-scenes force. The couple work as a team, often putting in weeks of 60 hours or more, a hectic work schedule that helps explain why they didn't start a family.

Without her help growing the business "the sound bites would have run out years ago," Boyd said.

Boyd does find time for life outside of work, sometimes making quick ski runs in the mornings before going into the office. And he has a keen interest in classic cars. Last year, he bought a 1964 Studebaker he calls Studley.

Aside from Marian, though, aviation is his true love, something often on his mind, even when he's relaxing.

As for those who wish Boyd would just go away, get used to him. He'll likely be around for a while.

"If you define retirement as doing what you want, where you want to do it, when you want to do it, and how you want to do it, I've been retired for 20 years," Boyd said. "It just doesn't get any better than this."

Some of Mike Boyd's predictions

His business revolves around forecasting trends in the aviation industry.

• AIRPLANES

"In 10 to 15 years a metal airplane will be like an LP record. It won't be there. Airplanes will be made out of (composite) plastics."

• LOW-COST CARRIERS

"I think there's going to be a shakeout in the low-cost area. Southwest is going to change, Frontier is going to evolve."

• CUSTOMER SERVICE

"Flying is going to be just as bad as it is now, or worse. In terms of things like hot meals, I don't think they'll be coming back on any widespread basis. It's been proven you don't need it."

• OVERSEAS FLIGHTS

"As we get new airplanes coming on line, we will see more international service in Denver. We might see flights to Tokyo. If that happens it'll be United, not anybody else."

• UNITED AIRLINES

"If United Airlines gets new management, they'll be on the top of the industry. We see carriers like that really moving ahead."

• COLORADO

"In terms of Colorado there's nothing but good news. Colorado Springs is going to be the second portal to the Front Range. Durango is going to be a huge portal going forward because of oil and gas. And Grand Junction is a portal for the Western Slope."

Biography

• Age: 58

• Born: New York City

• Family: Father was a vice president at American Airlines; mother was one of the first flight attendants at American.

• Work history: Started with American in 1971 as a ramp agent, also worked as a labor relations analyst, in the accounting and refund departments. Operations manager and regional director at Braniff International Airways. Worked as vice president of marketing and planning at Bar Harbor Airlines. Short stint as vice president of marketing at American International Airways. Started a business, then called Aviation Systems Research Inc., with his wife in 1984.

• Education: Bachelor's in social science, Michigan State University.

• Interesting facts: Went to high school in Taiwan, which spurred him to initially major in Chinese literature in college. "It was about as thrilling as interpreting IRS regulations. And socially, bringing up the works of Chuang-tze on a blind date is not an effective ice-breaker."

Also has a strong interest in classic cars. Last year bought a 1964 Studebaker GT Hawk. "To me, Studebakers represent . . . some of what is great about America - innovation, risk-taking, independence, without fear of being different from the 'norm.' "

• Hobbies: Working, golfing and hitting the slopes. "We got in 20 days of skiing last year, and we're going for 30 this year. There are times when we all play hooky. We'll meet (in Evergreen) at 7 a.m. and in 35 minutes we're at Keystone. We ski until 11, have lunch and come back to work."

• Work week: At least 60 hours. "Eighty percent of it is fun, 10 percent is OK, and 10 percent is awful. I think that's a pretty good mix."

Notable quotes

Mike Boyd is well-known in the aviation industry for his colorful, sometimes controversial, sound bites and quotes. A sampling over the years:

• Feb. 27, 1994 - On Denver International Airport, which faced delays and cost overruns: "We have lost 5,000 jobs to this boondoggle, and with Continental downsizing here, more job losses are on the way. Getting out of DIA is like getting out of Vietnam. It is very Nixonesque."

• August 1995 - On the Colorado Springs Airport, which was experiencing a huge increase in passengers: "It looks like La Guardia (International Airport) without the muggers."

• November 1997 - On committees of creditors in bankruptcy cases entertaining all offers as a way to keep the bidding competitive: "If they say we have a Martian coming down next week, they'll go for that. If the bidder keeps it alive by saying Elvis is going to be the chairman, they'll give it a chance."

• October 2000 - On United Airlines' standing with customers after a summer fraught with delays: "Consumers have the attention span of monkeys. They don't remember. The people who swore they'd never fly United again are in there filling up their 747s."

• September 2001 - On flying after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: "Air travel is no longer going to be for the masses. It's going to become far more restricted. No airplane is going to be allowed to leave the gate without being swept from nose to tail - and no one who comes near a commercial airliner is going to be allowed to carry so much as a pocket knife."

• September 2004 - On airport security: "There's no oversight and no scrutiny of anything the Transportation Security Administration does. That's why we have a major problem. . . . No one ever says, 'Are we gonna fix this stupid-ass system?' "

• March 2005 - On United Airlines' creation of a low-cost discount arm called Ted: "All United is doing with Ted is repainting airplanes, removing first class and putting them right back where they were."Sources: Rocky Mountain News, Associated Press, Tulsa (Okla.) World, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Atlanta Journal-Constitution A ...

walshc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2744