Domenic Gatto announced that 2013 will be his final year as the chief executive of one of the nation’s largest school bus and charter contractors.
The founder of Atlantic Express said he will retire next year on Dec. 31 after more than 42 years. Gatto, 64, began driving a school bus in New York City after returning from military service in Vietnam. The small Staten Island, N.Y., company he went to work for only had a 16-bus contract at the time. Gatto also worked in the company’s administrative offices between bus runs, and within two years he purchased the company.
“I just loved the business and the people in the business,” Gatto recalled in a prepared statement.
In 1979, he asked his three younger brothers to join Atlantic Express. The company continued to grow, and in 1998 the brothers sold the company to Greenwich Street Capital Partners. Gatto agreed to remain CEO for three years after the sale, but that assignment lasted more than another decade.
“It will be difficult to finally step down from the helm at Atlantic, but it is time for me to spend more time with my beautiful wife, my three children and my nine grandchildren,” he said. “I want to sincerely thank the more than 10,000 drivers, escorts, mechanics and support staff that helped and supported this company, as well as the hundreds of school districts and school administrators that have worked so well with us for over the last 42 years.”
Under Gatto, Atlantic Express granted hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships for students with special needs and physical challenges as well as charities such as the Emergency Children’s Help Organization, the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide, Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, Deborah Hospitals, and Hope for Warriors and Disabled American Veterans.
“Domenic Gatto is a longstanding leader in the school bus industry and has earned the right to enjoy a full and joyful retirement,” said Gene Davis, chairman of Atlantic Express. “His commitment and service was greatly valued and will be sorely missed.”
Gatto will continue on as a consultant to Atlantic Express once a new CEO is named and will assist that executive in “navigating through the volumes of labor and school district contracts.” Atlantic Express operates about 6,000 school buses nationwide, concentrating on the areas of the Northeast, the Midwest and Southern California.
