in february 2005, after j. george mikelsons stepped down as ceo of ata airlines, john denison, southwest's former chief financial officer took over. effective january 1, 2007, denison turned things over to subodh karnik, who became president and chief executive officer. denison remained chairman of global aero logistics inc., and was renamed as interim president and ceo when subodh karnik stepped down in march 2008.