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News: Richard Anderson will retire this year

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Old Feb 3, 2016, 2:40 pm
  #1  
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News: Richard Anderson will retire this year

Richard Anderson, who as much as anyone turned Delta from laggard to leader and upended the entire aviation industry, will retire from Delta May 2, 2016.

Ed Bastian will take his place.

Source: https://twitter.com/e_russell/status/694998187828985857

Delta now confirms: http://news.delta.com/delta-announce...ive-succession

Last edited by jrkmsp; Feb 3, 2016 at 2:41 pm Reason: Edited to add DL confirmation
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 2:45 pm
  #2  
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Will Ed have our back or....?
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 2:50 pm
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Originally Posted by ScrodmanFL
Will Ed have our back or....?
Ed'll help himself to the contents of our back pocket. :-)
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:00 pm
  #4  
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Wow - I thought Richard Anderson has been a good CEO.
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:02 pm
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Didn't see this one coming, and really had not seen any signs that Richard was ready to retire.

David
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:03 pm
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Anderson still owes me my drink coupons for 2016 -- hope that's on his pre-retirement checklist. And Ed should probably keep an eye on C. E. Woolman's desk too.
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:03 pm
  #7  
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first things that come to mind, how will EB handle;

1. ME3
2. Relationship with Alaska Airlines
3. Relationship with Korean Airlines
4. Relationship with employees, in particular, the non unionized flight attendants
5. Seattle build up
6. B787's

Anything else?
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:04 pm
  #8  
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Originally Posted by DiverDave
Didn't see this one coming, and really had not seen any signs that Richard was ready to retire.

David
He likes moving around it seems. He was CEO of NW, then went on the be CEO of a healthcare field company (insurance I think?), and then went on to go back to aviation at DL.
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:04 pm
  #9  
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Originally Posted by DL2SXM
first things that come to mind;

1. ME3
2. Relationship with Alaska Airlines
3. Relationship with Korean Air Lines
4. Seattle build up
5. B787's

Anything else?
And you are of the opinion that Ed may rethink this strategy?
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:05 pm
  #10  
 
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He's been a good CEO. Certainly better than Jeffy and Dougie at UA and AA.

Delta is historically profitable, and has the best OTP/reliability of any US carrier. If you're looking for an airline that just works, Delta is really the only choice these days.
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:05 pm
  #11  
 
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Quotable Ed Bastian:

"We're ever going to win by cutting costs while carving up the hearts of the people — the most important asset you have."
"The company is very profitable. But something bad is going to happen in our business. We can’t let the bad things throw us off track.

The lows are never that low and the highs are never that good. You’ve got to stay sober, sticking to a core strategy. We have to continue to play offense."
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:09 pm
  #12  
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Originally Posted by flyerCO
He likes moving around it seems. He was CEO of NW, then went on the be CEO of a healthcare field company (insurance I think?), and then went on to go back to aviation at DL.
He's 60 or so, so definitely of retirement age. I suspect he's looking forward to a retirement collecting six-figure paychecks to sit on various boards of directors.
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:10 pm
  #13  
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Originally Posted by DL2SXM
first things that come to mind, how will EB handle;

1. ME3
2. Relationship with Alaska Airlines
3. Relationship with Korean Airlines
4. Relationship with employees, in particular, the non unionized flight attendants
5. Seattle build up
6. B787's

Anything else?
What are you meaning? Do you think Richard caused those things, or do you want the new CEO to work on those?

I don't see the new CEO changing the AS/KE relationship anytime soon. As for the ME3, well no US airline CEO cares for them. Employee relations seem to generally be good, the exception being old NW FAs don't like DL non-union. 787's DL would have liked, but the current production schedule just doesn't make it feasible. Leaves SEA build up, I think most of us would rather see SEA go back to non-hub status. I'd rather connect through NRT then having to fly all the way to SEA in domestic F instead of D1.
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:11 pm
  #14  
 
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I wonder if he'll take C.E. Woolman's desk with him so he can still sit there everydaaaay.

In all seriousness, he'll certainly go down as probably the most successful U.S. Arline CEO of the post 9/11 age.
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:16 pm
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Originally Posted by HDQDD
I wonder if he'll take C.E. Woolman's desk with him so he can still sit there everydaaaay.
You beat me to it!
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