Young, CEO of Scenic Airlines, dies of cancer

Monday, May 15, 2000 | 10:54 a.m.

The chief executive officer of the world's largest air tour operation has died of cancer.

David Young, 58, who made a career of turning struggling airlines into profitable ventures and called his job at Scenic Airlines the best he ever had, died Saturday in Las Vegas.

"We are obviously very saddened by David's passing," said Scenic President Norman Freeman. "He was a really bright aviation entrepreneur and a tremendous guy on top of that. He will be missed."

Freeman said Young had the charisma to enter a roomful of strangers and have them rally around him by the time he left it.

"That was really his strong point," Freeman said. "He could read people from three weeks out."

During his time with Scenic, Young led the effort to merge the airline with the Eagle Canyon Airlines group and relocate the operation to North Las Vegas. Today, Scenic flies 25,000 passengers a month between Las Vegas and Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park in Southern Utah and Monument Valley on the Arizona-Utah border.

The company has a fleet of 24 twin-engine turboprop planes. Of those, 19 are specially modified 19-passenger DeHavilland Twin Otters that have wings over the fuselage and extra-large windows to give passengers good views of the terrain below. Multilingual sound systems aboard the planes serve thousands of international travelers who use scenic tours to catch a glimpse of the Grand Canyon while on short visits to Las Vegas.

Scenic also flies faster 44-passenger Fokker F-27 planes to the Grand Canyon Airport from McCarran International Airport's executive terminal. Scenic has about 380 employees.

The air tour industry is embroiled in a decade-old dispute with National Park Service administrators and environmentalists over the right to fly over park land. Government regulators have curtailed flights and are trying to block more to restore natural quiet to park lands.

Scenic has led the industry push to develop quieter aircraft to fly routes over the Grand Canyon that don't disturb people in the park. Young was considered one of the strong voices in the debate who fought for the beliefs of the air tour industry with a diplomatic style.

Young, a transplanted New Zealander, joined Scenic Airlines as president of the company three years ago when it was owned by SkyWest Airlines, St. George, Utah. Prior to that, he operated Air Fiji in the South Pacific, where he once refused to fly that nation's president because the government was behind paying for fuel.

"He was a man of great principle who stood up to the president," said Scenic marketing director Barry Ferber, an Australian who was recruited by Young to follow him to Las Vegas from Fiji. "That could have landed him out of the country, but he won respect because he stood up for what he wanted.

"He was a very popular boss, a popular human being and everybody liked him," Ferber said. "He spent most of his life turning around companies. He worked in the Philippines and New Zealand and was heavily involved in the local air tour association."

When the company was acquired in fall 1998 by Japanese entrepreneur Gene Yamagata, Young eventually was promoted to chief executive officer.

During his first year with Scenic, Young battled throat cancer. After being in remission after 12 months, Young learned about six months ago that cancer had spread to other organs.

Young engineered Scenic Airlines' two-year-old Children's Day, a charitable event in which the company one weekend in December buses children to the North Las Vegas Airport for a day of shows by local entertainers and free flights over the city.

The award for the company's Employee of the Month program, which he initiated, is being renamed the David Young Employee of the Month in his honor.

Young, who died with his wife, Temo, at his side, also is survived by a son, Dominic, of Japan, and daughters Natasha Maria and Juanita Young Cook, both of New Zealand. A memorial service is planned at Palm Mortuary-Cheyenne Thursday at 3 p.m.

Scenic officials have not announced who will succeed Young. Freeman said an announcement is expected by the company later this week.

Richard N. Velotta is a business writer for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4061 or by e-mail at velotta@lasvegassun.com.