Obituary: Steven
Rothmeier, former NWA CEO, dies at 67
Article by: NEAL ST. ANTHONY , Star Tribune
Updated: May 17, 2014 - 12:07
PM
Steven
Rothmeier, the no-nonsense executive who
remade Northwest Airlines in the
1980s only to lose control of the company to a debt-fueled buyout, died Thursday
in a Florida nursing home.
Rothmeier, 67, had suffered from Lewy body disease, a type
of progressive dementia, and Parkinson’s disease, which he’d struggled with for
several years, said his brother Michael.
Jay Rothmeier, a brother and business partner, confirmed
the death Friday.
Rothmeier joined Northwest in 1973 after a stint at
General Mills. He was a decorated infantry officer in Vietnam and earned an MBA
from the University of Chicago.
Rothmeier became part of a longtime Northwest management
group that focused on keeping a strong balance sheet, safe operations and
staying profitable during a time when many competitors, freed by deregulation to
choose their own routes and fares, got into financial trouble.
In 1985, at age 38, Rothmeier was named Northwest’s CEO.
The next year, he engineered the merger of Northwest with Twin Cities-based Republic Airlines. At the time, the
deal was the largest-ever airline combination. Through it, Rothmeier added new
routes, new hub cities in Detroit and Memphis, and gave NWA one of the broadest
reaches among airlines, with service from Europe, across the United States to
the Pacific Rim.
“Steve was one of the brightest guys I ever worked with or
for and he was a strong leader,’’ recalled John Horn, a retired Northwest senior
executive. “He took what [former CEOs] Donald Nyrop and Joe Lapensky gave him and grew it
successfully. And then we got caught in the takeover game.’’
While the Republic deal was a strategic success, its
execution proved chaotic for passengers and employees. Rothmeier was criticized
for a style that some called too strict, too focused on lean operations, and
inattentive to customer service.
By 1988, Rothmeier was appearing in ads saying the carrier
could do better and announcing new customer perks. But his days as CEO were
numbered.
Within a year, Gary Wilson, a Northwest board member,
stepped down and joined with California financier Al Checchi to lead a debt-heavy buyout
of what had been a conservatively financed NWA. Rothmeier stepped aside by late
1989.
The debt load imposed on NWA nearly bankrupted it in the
early ’90s. But the routes and hubs that Rothmeier added remained key strengths
until NWA merged with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines in 2008.
Rothmeier could be brusque, but usually not intentionally
so, associates said.
Brent
Baskfield, a Northwest executive who
served under Rothmeier, recalled that he often concluded employee meetings with
a wave and the admonition, “Work hard.” Once, a ticket agent in Los Angeles
broke down in response, saying she was working as hard as she could. Rothmeier
wrote her a note of apology, saying he appreciated her hard work, Baskfield
said.
“He never concluded another meeting saying, ‘Work hard,’ ”
Baskfield said.
“Steve Rothmeier was an academic success in graduate
school, a war hero and a great industry leader,” he added.
Rothmeier also had a dry sense of humor, said Tim Thornton, a onetime Northwest
general counsel who became Rothmeier’s attorney after they both left the
airline. In 1988, Northwest settled labor contracts with its pilots before the
same task could be accomplished by rival Steve Wolf at United Airlines — a CEO often viewed as
more charismatic and better with people than Rothmeier.
“Steve Wolf is going to throw up in his wastebasket when
he reads about this contract,” Rothmeier quipped, according to
Thornton.
The oldest of three sons, Rothmeier came home from the
University of Notre Dame to run and sell the family propane business in
Faribault after his father was killed in a car crash (Feb. 1967). Rothmeier
later returned to graduate from Notre Dame.
After leaving NWA, Rothmeier started a St. Paul investment
firm, Great Northern Capital.
A bachelor and conservative Catholic, Rothmeier was a
member of St. Agnes Church, a predominantly working class parish in St. Paul’s
Frogtown area known for its Latin high mass. He was a donor and former volunteer
football coach at St. Agnes High School.
For years Rothmeier cared for his mother, who lived with
him at his Bavarian-style compound in Eagan, complete with a chapel. Last year,
Rothmeier put the property up for sale.
His family plans to announce funeral arrangements at St.
Agnes next week.
Neal St.
Anthony • 612-673-7144
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Homegazing:
Fantasy castle in Eagan
- Article by: KIM PALMER , Star
Tribune Updated: May 11, 2013 - 3:55 PM
A castle in Eagan includes a carriage house, courtyard
and its own Bavarian chapel.
It’s been almost 30 years, but architect Tom Blanck of St. Paul
still remembers the call that launched his biggest residential
project.
The caller introduced himself as Steve Rothmeier, president of
Northwest Airlines, but Blanck didn’t believe him.
“I said, ‘You’re not the president of Northwest Airlines — [M.J.]
Lapensky is. I do read the newspaper,’ ” Blanck recalled. The caller informed
him that he was, indeed, the airline’s president and had recently replaced
Lapensky.
Blanck soon found himself working with Rothmeier on a
most unusual home. “He said he wanted a Germanic castle, with a circular entry
turret,” Blanck said. “Steve had just rediscovered his German
ethnicity.”...................
