Phil Bakes
Phil Bakes, the former executive at Continental and Eastern airlines
and co-founder of tour operator company Far & Wide, died Aug. 3 at age 70
from a bone marrow disorder.
Based in South Florida for much of his career, Bakes grew up
in Chicago and graduated from Harvard Law School, where he was articles editor
of the Harvard Law Review. He went on to serve as a special prosecutor on the
Watergate case, and he was involved in the deregulation of the airline industry
as counsel to the Senate antitrust subcommittee and then general counsel to the
Civil Aeronautics Board.
“He was right in the heart of the cultural changes of the
travel industry and the cross of the travel industry and the political moment
when airline relationships were being deregulated,” said Kathy Sudeikis of
Ascendas Vacations, who was a classmate of Bakes’ on the South Side of Chicago
and later reconnected with him in the travel industry.
In 1980, Bakes joined the Texas Air Corporation, where four
years later he became president and CEO of Continental Airlines just six months
after the airline filed for bankruptcy.
Bakes helped guide Continental through its reorganization,
before taking over as president of Eastern Airlines, another Texas Air
subsidiary. Bakes left Eastern in 1990, after the airline filed for Chapter 11.
Bakes went on to found Far & Wide Travel, a tour
operator company that acquired Tourlite, Central Holidays, Zeus Tours and more
than a dozen other brands in just a few years.
In 2000, the Association of Travel Marketing Executives gave
Bakes its Atlas Award for Lifetime Achievement. A year later, Ernst & Young
named him its Entrepreneur of the Year.
However, Far & Wide’s rapid expansion came to a halt
with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, war in Iraq and ensuing travel
industry fallout. Even after a 2002 consolidation, Far & Wide was unable to
recover from mounting debt, and in 2003 the company filed for bankruptcy.
“I think the rollup was probably premature, but it was
certainly a grand vision for the travel industry,” said Sudeikis, who
interfaced with Bakes as ASTA president. “I think he was ahead of his time.”
In 2004, Bakes joined BFC Financial Corp., where he served
as president of Snapper Creek Equity Management, managing director of BFC and,
until his death last week, co-managing partner of BBX Capital Partners.
“I was always so impressed with his demeanor and
professional understanding of the business, from the Civil Aeronautics Board
on,” Sudeikis said. “He was an icon in the industry.”