October 23, 2001

AIRLINE EXECUTIVES AND PILOTS GATHER AT SMU TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF AVIATION

DALLAS (SMU) -- With huge third-quarter losses expected by many airlines in the wake of Sept. 11, a group of pilots, attorneys and former airline executives and government officials will gather at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law to discuss the future of aviation.

Organized by the school’s Journal of Air Law and Commerce, “Freedom vs. Fear: The Future of Air Travel,” will be Oct 29-30, Monday and Tuesday, in the Hillcrest Classroom in the Underwood Law Library, 6550 Hillcrest Ave. The event is free and open to the public. Topics at the conference to be addressed include:

• The future economic health of domestic and international airlines, including which airlines will survive
• New safety proposals for passengers and security measures for airports
• The air travel slowdown effect on the economies of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and the nation.

“What may be the most overlooked story in the nation right now is the looming financial crisis faced by the domestic and international airlines and the accompanying danger this poses to the economy of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and to the nation and the world, “ said John Attanasio, dean of SMU’s Dedman School of Law and an organizer of the special conference.

On Monday, Oct. 29, at 4 p.m., Robert L. Crandall, retired chairman and CEO of AMR Corp. and American Airlines will speak on the topic “Security for the Future: Let’s Get Our Airlines Flying Again.”

On Tuesday, Oct. 30, from 12:15 to 2 p.m., there will be a panel with John Nance, aviation editor of ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America,” author, attorney and a former commercial airline pilot; Albert V. Casey, former chairman and CEO of AMR Corp. and American Airlines and the Distinguished Executive-in-Residence in the Department of Management and Organizations in the Edwin L. Cox School of Business; Jim Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board; and E. Ray Hutchison, a Dallas bond attorney whose clients have included the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

The Journal of Air Law and Commerce was first published in 1930 at Northwestern University and then moved to SMU in 1961. The journal is the oldest scholarly periodical in the English language devoted to the legal and economic problems affecting aviation and space and has a worldwide circulation of more than 2,000 readers in 60 countries.