SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Arthur D. Lewis, one of this nation's most accomplished transportation executives, who headed the American Bus Association in the late 1970s and early 1980s, died in January but his death was not reported publicly until last month. He was 89.

During a long career, Mr. Lewis worked in the airplane and bus industries, but most significantly he lead the formation of Conrail, which consolidated many of the nation's freight railroads. At the time, it was the largest corporate reorganization in American history.

In fact, Mr. Lewis played a key role in determining the future of the rail industry in the U.S. As chairman of a government agency, the United States Railway Association, he was responsible for overhauling freight service in the Northeast and Midwest at a time when regional rail companies were going bankrupt. Out of the chaos Mr. Lewis developed Conrail, known formally as the Consolidated Rail Corporation, in 1976.

Mr. Lewis was considered an expert in salvaging bankrupt and troubled companies.

He began his transportation career when he joined American Airlines in 1941 as an economic research analyst in its planning department. He stayed with American until 1955, eventually rising to vice president for planning.

That year, he was hired by Hawaiian Airlines, which was then troubled, to turn the company around as its president and chief executive. In 1964, he was hired by Eastern Airlines and eventually served as its president and chief executive.

In 1974, President Richard M. Nixon appointed Mr. Lewis to his post at the railway association. After three years with the group, he joined the American Bus Association during a troubled period for the intercity bus industry.

He also helped found two airlines: Mid Pacific Airlines, which operated during the 1980s in Hawaii, and U.S. Africa Airways Inc., which operated briefly in the mid-1990s, providing service between Washington and the South African cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Mr. Lewis died of congestive heart failure.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Hildegard, a son, Gregory, of Chevy Chase, Md.; a daughter, Kimberly K. Lewis Gibson, of Vienna, Va., and a sister.