Corrado relies on levity to set a strong example at Air Transport Services
May 27, 2021, 9:00pm EDT
This story was originally published in the Cincinnati Business Courier. This story is a supplement to the Courier's 2021 list of largest public companies.
Rich Corrado was voted the class clown at his high school just outside of Boston. And now he’s CEO of Wilmington-based public company Air Transport Services Group Inc.
“I was always messing around at school and having fun, but I was always learning,” he said.
This was in the 1970s, when Jimmy Carter was president and “Saturday Night Live” was just getting started.
“We joke around a lot in the office,” he said. “Our CFO (Quint Turner), as surprising as it sounds, is one of the funniest people I know. We try to keep it light. We’re serious about work but we look for the opportunity to be a little light-hearted about things.”
That said, Air Transport’s contract with Amazon has grown to make it the company’s biggest customer. Amazon now generates about 35% of Air Transport’s sales and purchased $131 million in Air Transport stock in March by exercising warrants it had since 2016. That makes it a 19.5% owner of Air Transport’s stock.
Air Transport leases 42 planes to the e-commerce behemoth and flies those plus four others in Amazon’s fleet. It provides maintenance on the planes and sorts Amazon packages in Tampa, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C.
What challenges has the company faced through the pandemic and how has it dealt with them? Keeping our employees safe has been our biggest challenge. All our companies are considered “essential services” and thus we never shut down. Several of our companies have frontline employees that are at risk every day, such as pilots, flight attendants, maintenance technicians, cargo handlers, package sorters, etc. I began producing monthly videos to speak directly to all our employees to emphasize our safety measures around Covid. Logistically, we had to come up with cleaning supplies, sanitizers, masks, etc., to enable our environments to be safe. Our entrepreneurial employees developed solutions. We began to sew our own masks in our aircraft seat shop. We bought drums of sanitizing solution and plastic bottles and created our own sanitizer production line.
What is currently spurring growth for the company? E-commerce was already growing double-digits before the pandemic, but it has now accelerated significantly. An August 2020 study by IBM Retail Research found that the pandemic pulled e-commerce demand five years forward. We view ourselves as an e-commerce enabler.
What advice would you give a new boss? Be positive, optimistic and understand that people will be taking cues based on how you react to things. It’s important to be empathetic and care about your people. Be clear and decisive in explaining the vision, the mission, the job, the assignment. When your people know you care, and they understand the job and the mission, self-motivation tends to follow.
When you were in grade school, what did you want to be when you grew up and why? A professional football player. I loved football; still do.
Which app do you use most now? Other than communication platforms and email, I use LinkedIn and ESPN.
What is your favorite vacation spot? Cape Cod. I grew up in Massachusetts.
What do you do to stay healthy? I work out every day, spinning bike or treadmill. In nicer weather I get out for long rides on my road bike. And I lift weights three times per week.
What is the best book you’ve ever read? For fiction, I’m a Tom Clancy genre fan. Nonfiction, I’m currently reading Robert Iger’s book, “The Ride of a Lifetime.” It’s very relevant to my current role.
What trait do you most value in your friends? Trust and a sense of humor.
Favorite guilty pleasure? Ice cream sandwiches and beer, although not together.
Rich Corrado
Title: CEO, Air Transport Services Group Inc.
Education: Bachelor’s in economics from Harvard University; MBA from Boston College
Experience: Worked for Airborne Express, Ernst & Young, ABX Air then Airborne Express and DHL. Returned to Wilmington with Air Transport Services Group in 2010 as chief commercial officer. Became COO in 2017, president in 2019 and CEO in March 2020.
Age: 61
Resides: Indian Hill
Family: Wife, Susan; three adult children
Steve Watkins
Staff Reporter
Cincinnati Business Courier