Surprise: Delta Goes Outside for CEO

In a move that surprised the heck out of me, Delta Airlines is naming former Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson as it's new Chief Executive. Anderson presently serves as executive vice president of UnitedHealth Group Inc. and had been a board member for Delta. Ed Bastian, the current Delta CFO, will take the position of President.  Anderson will replace Gerald Grinstein as CEO on September 1, 2007

Outgoing CEO Gerald Grinstein had wanted to select an internal candidate for the top post.  COO James Whitehurst and Ed Bastian had been the leading candidates for the job.  Whitehurst and Bastian were instrumental in helping make the Delta Chapter 11 bankruptcy a widely acclaimed model for how to manage business in a turnaround.   

Whitehurst is said to be resigning immediately. That is a loss to Delta of substantial talent.  No doubt executive search firms will be lining up to place Jim Whitehurst elsewhere. At 39 years old, Whitehurst is CEO material.

Richard Anderson's selection as the new CEO also is a potential indicator of further Airline consolidation. Delta and Northwest have been speculative merger mates for some time.  Andersons knowledge of NWA and Delta could accelerate that possibility.  While Deltas Chapter 11 situation was thought to be a model for how to "do it right",  NWA's has been a mess.    While Northwest emerged from bankruptcy shortly after Delta,  it's employees and especially it's unions, remain bitter about how the process was managed.   

Anderson has told Deltas Pilots Union chief  Capt. Lee Moak he is not coming to Delta to merge the carrier with NWA.    Time will tell whether that remains true.     As an Atlanta native, and regular passenger on Delta, I am a fan of this airline.   I care about the choices they make.   This is the hometown airline.   What's good for Delta is good for Atlanta. (It's also good for Boston, Salt Lake City and Cincinnati.)  Richard Anderson I hope will invest himself in his new city.

Eric

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com Delta Names Anderson CEO By HARRY R. WEBER The Associated Press Tuesday, August 21, 2007; 6:19 PM ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines Inc. fought hard during bankruptcy to avoid being taken over by another carrier. Less than four months after exiting Chapter 11, it reignited speculation Tuesday about a future merger by naming former Northwest Airlines Corp. CEO Richard Anderson as its next chief executive. Anderson, currently a board member at Atlanta-based Delta and an executive at UnitedHealth Group Inc., will replace Gerald Grinstein on Sept. 1. Grinstein, 75, who had said he would leave Delta once his successor was named, will retire from Delta and from its board. The appointment of Anderson, 52, answers one pressing question but also raises others, particularly about future consolidation. "Clearly having Anderson named would raise that speculation," said Philip Baggaley, an analyst at Standard & Poor's. "I don't think it necessarily draws any direct link, but it clearly will raise that thought."

Add Freightdawg.com to your social bookmarks!