Parker was born . In 1984 he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Albion College. In 1986 he received his MBA from Vanderbilt University. The same year he started with American Airlines in financial management. In 1991 he moved to Northwest Airlines as Vice President and Treasurer. He moved to America West Airlines in 1995 as their Chief financial officer. On September 1, 2001 he became CEO of America West. After the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington DC the airline business was in financial trouble. Parker lobbied Congress for a financial bailout to keep his airline out of bankruptcy. He was given a $380 million USD loan that saved his airline. In 2005 he became president of US Airways Inc., a subsidiary of US Airways Group Inc.