[2] During the war, he trained with the Royal Air Force in England, and served as a senior flight control officer in Europe and the Middle East.

Howard, along with several other Eastern officials, scrambled to gather the cash and catalog the serial numbers on the bills in case the money was ever recovered.

In reference to their flight back to the United States, Howard is quoted as saying that “Hahneman was pleasant, calm, and most talkative, but we did not shake hands when we met.”[4][8] The cash was finally recovered a year later after a thorough investigation from the FBI.

[10] After his departure from Eastern, Howard quickly landed another position, with an offer to become an executive vice president of the Robert Hall clothing company.

Upon his arrival at Piedmont, Howard was initially told he would be spending the bulk of his time in Washington D.C. swaying the opinions of state representatives.

Although still not totally sold on the idea, Piedmont's founder and CEO Tom Davis relented, instructing Howard to inform congress that the airline no longer opposed deregulation.

By choosing cities not served by other airlines, Piedmont could avoid the fare wars that plagued other carriers, charge more per ticket, and grow at a faster rate.

These hub airports were supplied with a constant flow of passengers from feeder cities - many of whom had been abandoned or overlooked by the larger air carriers after deregulation.

Flights from feeder routes would arrive at the hubs in the morning and depart for larger cities such as New York, Washington or Miami shortly after.

In the afternoon, the process would reverse, bringing travelers from the large cities, through Piedmont's hubs and off to the smaller destinations by the end of the day.

Howard was known to be a big fan of auto racing, and worked out a deal to sponsor Ricky Rudd in a car fielded by Richard Childress for the 1982 Winston Cup Series season.

[19] This would prove to be an excellent decision, as Labonte would have 17 top five finishes in the Piedmont car in 1984, winning the Winston Cup Championship that year.

As a result, Piedmont management put together a covert plan known internally as “Project Omaha” to begin inter-state service to the entire state of Florida virtually overnight.

Many of the new Florida Shuttle pilots came from recently defunct Braniff Airways, and were just happy to be flying again, even if it wasn't in larger aircraft.

[22] Allegis’ executive selection committee, headed by director Neil Armstrong, approached Howard about possibly running the company.

[23] Separately, he was approached by the United Pilots Union and a group of investment bankers about making a bid to buy the airline from Allegis.

Donald Trump originally agreed to purchase Eastern Shuttle for $365 million in 1988, however worsening problems at the airline and strikes by its employees since then had devalued it in the eyes of some investors.

Howard's group offered up $125 million in cash in return for Eastern's Shuttle, promising full repayment to the airlines creditors in exchange for accepting the lower purchase price.

[29] Following Carl Icahn's disastrous takeover of TWA in the late 1980s, and the airlines subsequent filing for Chapter 11 in 1992, Howard was selected to lead the struggling company out of bankruptcy.

[34] Heartland planned to operate upscale first class style air service out of Dayton, a hub which was abandoned by USAir after their merger with Piedmont in 1989.

[35] After failing to raise their $55 million first round fundraising goal, and with worsening economic conditions on the horizon, Heartland ceased operation in February 2001.

[2] Aviation Week Magazine nominated him as a significant contributor to aerospace in 1983, for his hub concept which turned Piedmont into one of the success stories of deregulation.