Bruce E. Hicks
General Manager - Houston

Bruce Hicks is a senior public relations and marketing communications counselor with 41 years experience in the news media and public relations fields.  

Prior to opening the Houston office of The Alliant Group in 2003, Hicks headed Darcy Communications/ Houston, which he founded in 1989, serving a wide range of international, national and local clients in travel and tourism, airlines, energy, commercial real estate development, legal, technical and manufacturing industries.  His clients have included American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, United Airlines, Aeromexico airlines, World Airways, AirTran Airways, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Air France, Allstate Insurance, KPMG Peat Marwick, American Express Travel Related Services Company, Ethyl Corporation, Coastal Corporation, Century Development Corporation, Crown Central Petroleum, Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist Tara Lipinski, Mexico City Tourism Board, Hawaiian Airlines, Mexicana Airlines, Midway Airlines, RiceTec, Inc., and others.

Hicks is recognized as an expert in crisis management with experience in labor (contract negotiations, strikes, lockouts, corporate campaigns, union organizing), financial (bankruptcy, takeovers), legal and regulatory (lawsuits, government investigations and hearings), and physical (airline crashes, office building fires) crises.

His crisis work also includes developing crisis and emergency operating plans for clients.

From 1992 through 2005, Hicks consulted with American Airlines on a wide variety of issues, including labor organizing attempts, contract disputes and strikes, the September 11^th tragedy and the November 2001 A300 crash in New York.  For more than a year, he served as internal and external communication strategist and public media spokesperson in the successful effort in 2003 to restructure all labor agreements and avoid bankruptcy.

In 2006, Hicks consulted with Delta Air Lines on its negotiations with its pilots’ union for a new agreement to reduce costs as part of its bankruptcy restructuring and acted as Delta’s chief media spokesperson on the pilot issue.  Additionally, he consulted with Delta and subsidiary Comair on the NTSB investigation of Comair’s tragic accident in Lexington, the sixth commercial airline accident investigation in which Hicks was involved.

Other labor issues have involved Ethyl Corporation, Crown Central Petroleum, United Airlines, Atlantic Southeast Airlines and World Airways.

In his 30 years as a public relations executive, he has both agency and corporate experience, including his highly public role as chief spokesman for Continental Airlines and Texas Air Corporation for more than a decade. 

Prior to Texas Air, Hicks was regional manager for the Houston and Kansas City offices of the international PR firm, Carl Byoir & Associates.  As a journalist for eight years, Hicks was medical/science/energy/aerospace writer for United Press International and the Houston Chronicle, night city editor of the Austin American Statesman, and editor of the weekly Austin Citizen.

He has won numerous awards, including the Public Relations Society of America’s top national honor, the Silver Anvil, twice (crisis communications and special events).  Hicks holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Houston.  He is active in community affairs and is a former member of the National Board of the American Diabetes Association. 

	Most memorable inspiration:
	An early mentor taught me that creativity requires a broad brush for the panoramic view and a fine brush to paint in all the details to make it come alive.

	Best career moment:
	I hope I haven't had it yet.  To date, it would have to be the feeling of having contributed something worthwhile through my clients, American Airlines, in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001, or Starwood Hotels, in New Orleans immediately after Katrina in 2005.

	Worst career moment:
	Walking through a throng of laid-off fellow employees the morning after Continental Airlines' first bankruptcy in 1983, feeling guilty to still have a job and knowing that how well I did my job could be the difference in how soon they would have theirs back.

	When not working:
	Time with family and my hobby/community service as a volunteer youth baseball umpire, made even better when my now grown son and I get to work together as a crew.