DENVER — One of the best jobs Jeff Potter ever had was cleaning airplanes.
After he landed it in the early '80s, Potter left school and never looked back, rising through the airline industry's ranks to head Frontier Airlines, a job he says is so much fun that it is more of a hobby.
"After I started cleaning airplanes, I knew I'd be in the business, but once I became a ticket agent, I knew I had found my passion," said Potter, 44.
A veteran of a half dozen airlines, Potter succeeded founding chief executive officer Sam Addoms in 2002, at a particularly challenging time after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Today, he leads a carrier that is expanding as it prepares for new competition.
Terry Trippler of cheapseats.com credited Potter, then chief operating officer, and Addoms with helping keep Frontier secure after the attacks hurt the industry.
"I call it the no-panic airline," Trippler said. "Nothing ruffles Frontier."
Potter is one of four children of a career Air Force man who moved his family 19 times in 21 years, Potter's mother, Sharon Wilkins, said. He was the only child who did not pursue a military career.
The former Boy Scout favored team sports — he played pickup basketball with people including future NBA Hall-of-Famer John Stockton, Wilkins said.
Early in his career, Potter lived in a motel room and called home from a pay phone. "It was right by the train tracks, so when a train went by, we had to stop talking," Wilkins recalled.
Potter joined Frontier — the original — in 1981 and then worked for Northwest, Continental and Vanguard, among others.
In 2000, after five years as Frontier's chief marketing officer, Potter was looking for his next promotion when cash-strapped Vanguard was looking for a new CEO to boost revenue. A match was made, and Potter's mother stopped bugging him to go back to college.
Then-Vanguard CEO Rocky Spane said he hired Potter to replace him because of Potter's expertise in selling tickets, picking routes and building hub operations.
Addoms, then chief at Frontier, said Potter's jump stunned him because he did not think Potter was ready to head an airline.
"Like most kids you have, you're not sure they're ready to go off and be married, be off on their own," Addoms said. "But he was clearly ready. He would probably tell you the experience was a good one for him. I would've said it was an expensive one. It took a lot of energy and effort."
When Frontier came calling for a chief operating officer in 2001, Potter left Vanguard. The bankrupt Vanguard has since gone out of business.
Potter spent less than a year as COO before sliding into the top spot when Addoms retired.
Denver-based Frontier was launched in 1994 from the ashes of a former airline by the same name and began with two planes and 180 employees.
In the past three months, the No. 2 carrier in Denver has ordered new aircraft, reported profits and gained market share, while United Airlines, its chief competitor in Denver, slashed costs and relinquished three gates at Denver International Airport to Frontier.
This year, Frontier had 39 aircraft and 3,700 employees with service to 41 cities nationwide and in Mexico. It expects to have 62 aircraft and 6,000 employees by 2008 as it prepares for next year's debut of United's new low-cost carrier, Ted.
In Denver, Frontier has gained roughly 15 percent of the market, whittling away at a 55 percent market share for United that was once 65 percent.
Blaylock & Partners airline analyst Ray Neidl said Frontier, like all low-cost carriers, must manage growth without letting costs get out of hand, and it must recruit the right workers.
Colleagues and industry analysts say Potter is a good fit for an airline whose commercials have talking animals, whose flight attendants sprinkle on-board warnings with quips and bring meals, beverages and sometimes dessert in moves designed to have staff interact with customers.
He is seen as a consensus builder with an open-door policy, an energetic person who regularly greets ticket agents, ramp agents and baggage handlers by name and inquires about their families.
This Halloween, he donned the wig and stockings of Snow White while executives dressed up as the seven dwarfs.
Much of Potter's communication with employees takes place in e-mail, newsletters and monthly meetings with Potter, called "Just Jeff."
Although managers and employees have disagreed to the point where flight attendants tried to unionize three times, it was rejected each time.
"Frontier is the only airline I've ever worked for where I felt senior management treated the employees with honesty," said pilots' union vice president Mike Rider, who has e-mailed Potter on issues he disagrees with, such as Frontier's destinations.
During a recent interview, Potter said he was glad he rose through the industry ranks because it gave him valuable perspective. He shrugged for laughs and said, "I still think I clean planes better than anybody."
Lowdown on Frontier's leader
NAME: Jeff S. Potter.
TITLE: CEO of Frontier Airlines since April 2002.
AGE: Born Nov. 6, 1959.
BIRTHPLACE: Chaumont Air Base, France.
EDUCATION: Attended Eastern Washington University.
PERSONAL: Wife, Kelly; three children.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Director of domestic schedule development for Northwest Airlines from 1992-1993. Regional director of commercial marketing for Pacific and Asia for McDonnell Douglas Corp., 1993 to July 1995. Frontier vice president of marketing from July 1995-April 2000. CEO of Vanguard Airlines, May 2000-April 2001. Frontier chief operating officer, director and executive vice president May 2001, becoming president in August 2001. Also held various positions with the former Frontier Airlines 1981-1985, Pacific Southwest Airlines 1985-1986, Northwest Airlines 1986-88, Continental Airlines 1988-91.
ON RISING THROUGH THE RANKS OF THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY: "I'm glad I did. It gives you a little perspective."
ON HOW FOOD SERVICE HAS CHANGED: "I used to tell friends, as a bachelor at 21 years old, when I was an aircraft cleaner and ticket agent, I would fly to Denver and back just to feed myself."