Pacing Toward a Fall: Airline's new owner came across as bringer of better days; then days got worse

(By Richard Craver, Winston-Salem Journal) - William Rodgers Sr., the new owner of a floundering Pace Airlines Inc., knew his audience.

In his introduction to anxious Pace employees in June -- just days after Rodgers acquired the charter airline and maintenance company -- he invoked God, family, patriotism and job security.

In a video obtained by the Winston-Salem Journal, the 59-year-old Rodgers comes across as something between a white knight and a 1980s-style televangelist.