A Shakeup at the Top for Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines has announced that president and CEO Mark Dunkerley will retire next year.

The airline's executive vice president and chief commercial officer, Peter Ingram will be tasked with filling the massive shoes, effective March 1, 2018.

The 54-year-old Dunkerley joined Hawaiian Airlines in December 2002 and has overseen tremendous growth in the nearly 15 years since.

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"This has been a heart-wrenching decision," he said in a statement accompanying Thursday's announcement. "Hawaiian Airlines is truly in a class of its own, distinguished by all the employees I am honored to call my colleagues. At the same time, I am excited by the new opportunities ahead of me and I am confident that Peter Ingram and the team will lead the company to further success."

Since Dunkerley's arrival in 2002, Hawaiian Airlines has doubled the number of passengers flown annually to 11 million, increased gross revenues to $2.64 billion and doubled its employee count to 6,600.

The Dunkerley era also saw expanded service to Tokyo, Osaka and Sapporo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Beijing, China; Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney and Brisbane, Australia and New York City.

Hawaiian Airlines even became the first U.S. carrier to join a global climate change monitoring project under Dunkerley. On top of all that, the carrier has led all U.S. airlines in on-time performance for each of the past 13 years.

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Ingram has been with the airline since December 2005 and has led a variety of efforts since being named chief commercial officer in 2011, including marketing and sales, revenue management, network planning, loyalty programs and cargo.

"Peter Ingram has been an important part of Hawaiian Airlines' growth and success for the past 12 years, and we are confident in his deep knowledge of the airline, the industry and the community," said Chairman of the Board, Lawrence Hershfield in a statement.

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