spgaston

Ugh, NW.
Ugh, he left NW in 2004.
Ugh, NW has terrible labor/management relations which the management at that time is very responsible for.
Doesn't DL realize they absorbed that brand with him?
Ugh.

kmk5397

I agree with you..it's pretty sad that we are SO used to it!

atl runner

Well I'm not an expert or claiming any great foresight, but I told my wife a few weeks ago that I thought Anderson would get it. There was an article in mid-July in the AJC talking about how DL's board had stretched out the timetable for picking a new CEO. It stated that the board had interviewed both Bastian and Whitehurst, but that Anderson had not taken part in those interviews. It was pretty easy to read between the lines where the board was going.

I've never flown on Northwest and can't say I have any direct knowledge of Anderson. I do think this will hurt employee morale, as Whitehurst was clearly very popular.
A merger with Northwest sounds like a recipe for disaster, even allowing for the complementary route structures. Of course, just because Anderson is the new CEO doesn't mean that's what will happen.

Like much in life, we can speculate and make all sorts of negative (and/or positive) predictions about what this will mean, without in any way really knowing what's to come.
Change is inevitable, and being flexible enough to adapt to whatever new realities occur will be the key for all of us.

Still, it won't hurt to keep your fingers crossed.

Air Brian

Be careful what you wish for...Not sure I'd want McGyver in charge of NW's militant unions.

To me, this is a discouraging signal from the BOD of a possible return to the days where the bean counters ruled the roost without regard for customers (remember Leo?). Choosing the CFO over the COO may have merit in this situation, but I cannot say I am encouraged that the "new" Delta will continue its customer focused strategy. I certainly hope I am wrong.

sxf24

To be fair to Anderson, NW had poor labor relations for many years before he was CEO and most of the deepest cuts took place after his departure.

He was one of the more respected, if relatively unremarkable, CEOs of NW.

KeaauFlyer

Despite initial official denials of a DL-NW merger, there is a lot of buzz on-line about it. As others have noted on this forum, NW is near the bottom in the public eye right now, and have been for years in the opinion of many. (I'll never forget my DTW-NRT flight in Y a few years ago where the FA tossed sandwiches like frisbees to the folks in center seats of the 747. At least they were wrapped in plastic.)

All NW would really bring to the table are the coveted Asia routes and a slightly more comprehensive route system in the Upper Midwest with their RJ feeders . Memphis would probably kiss their hub goodbye post merger. On the negative side you have a bad customer service reputation, poisonous labor relations, and a fleet that seems to be aging from my casual, non-scientific observations. Even though DL seems poised to get a China route, their service to Asia on their own metal is minimal, so all those routes out of NRT might be too much to resist. It should get interesting.

jimrpa

Huh?

I have to admit that I don't follow airline executives, so I don't know anything about this guy. Why is everyone so down on this guy? Based on the reaction I've seen here, you'd think that Leo F. Mullin was making a triumphant return?

iahphx

Well, I'm still very surprised, but at least one respected industry analyst thinks Anderson is a good choice.
__________________________________________________ ___________
From Bloomberg:

Choosing Anderson is a win for Delta, said Michael Boyd, a consultant at the Boyd Group in Evergreen, Colorado. ``Northwest was probably a tougher nut than Delta because Northwest is highly unionized and he did a great job there.''

BearX220

The worst transatlantic flight I ever had in my life was on a NW 747 -- and it was due to the cabin staff. A vicious, seething crew that was shouting at passengers before pushback and kept it up for eight hours. Things have only gotten worse since then. But I digress.

NW is pretty clearly being tarted up for sale / merger / takeover, but I can't imagine a DL deal being worth the internal trauma. Maybe if DL just strips out the NRT operation and shuts down most of the domestic system, it'd be worth it -- sort of like what AA did to QQ, but on a grand national scale. A fullblown combination of operations, though, would be disastrous IMHO.

Air Brian

I cannot speak for others, but for me it is nothing personal. I, like you, do not know enough about Mr. Anderson to form an opinion. My concern lies in the choice for president (and nothing against Mr. Bastian). I sincerely hope this does not portend a return to "Leonomics."

One consideration in choosing McGyver is that he has the experience with the Unions - something the DL internal candidates do not. Perhaps the BOD sees that consolidation with a legacy is unavoidable and chose someone who at least has labor/management experience.

N830MH

Yeah, I think he willing resigned from DL. I'm sure they will chosen new CEO from DL. I think preferable which one is Richard Anderson is extremely best for CEO. I'm sure which one is new CEO from DL. DL is still discuss about more new long-haul. I wasn't thinking about rumors want more big orders new 777-200LR/300ER or 787-8/9. It would be more demand growing a new aircraft.

FogCityTraveler

My money says that this is the beginning of a long disastrous ride for Delta.

- let's see what his compensation package is. No doubt it's inline with all other arrogant CEOs and screws shareholders and employees. When the annoucement of $20M, pension, and lifetime health benefits hits, employee morale will be right up there with NW

- huge mistake pulling anyone who ever touched NW. When was the last time that airline was considered a well run company providing high quality service and decent shareholder return. uummm, NEVER. NW is in the same caegory as Alitalia. This is like pulling Bricklin in to run Ford.

- no airline should merge with NW. NW should file for liquidation and THEN Delta should purchase its only valuable asset: Asian routes

- does anyone know the reporting structure for Glen Hauenstein and Bob Cortelyou (guys in charge of Revenue Management and Network Planning)? If they reported to Whitehurst they will follow him out the door

- be prepared for the continued Piggly Wiggle style First Class service on DL... paper, plastic, and whtever was on the day old bread rack

It's a shame to see so much good work go to waste so fast!

DLfan

Of course, if it was just a rumor, there would nothing wrong with posting it here.

I really don't know much about this guy, so I'm curious how / why everyone is assuming he'll systematically reverse all the recent progress Delta has made. I'm not saying he won't, just asking what he has done in the past to convince everyone that he'll ruin Delta.

That said, I am troubled by the fact that he is tainted with a NW past. As others have said, NW has never been a particularly well run company; but to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, maybe he did the best he could at NW given the damaged brand he was handed.

Here's to hoping he realizes the golden opportunity he now has to run an airline on the mend.

indufan

Well, I give credit for Delta for something...at least I knew who the guy was when I read it...and yes, I thought about Oscar Goldman too. In fact, I think we should just call him Oscar for short. It's gotta be better than Dick.

For the last 6 years or so, I considered NW my "backup carrier"...and in fact, when Leo had announced draconian changes to the SkyMiles program, I was changing to them. We have heard Mikey and others say how happy they have been with NW over the years. Recently, some of that has been quashed because of very recent problems with them.

I will say that about the time I had a fairly good impression of NW was when he was at the helm.

As to the Delta insiders being looked over. You know what, I really don't know anything more about them than I know about Oscar other than they were under Jerry G who I think did a fabulous job.

So, how about REAL discussion on this man. What did he do good for NW and what did he do bad for them? Specifically...not generally.

My main negative views on NW are DC-9s (but they have a lot more of those on routes instead of CRJs), crappy hubs (DTW is OK), and FAs with a little bit of attitude. I suppose Oscar could have done something about the DC-9s. He was probably stuck with the crappy hubs (even though was he in charge when the new DTW opened?) and I suspect that they have FAs with an attitude for a long time and something that Delta definitely does not have (in general)...and I doubt they start soon.

Maybe there will be a little hope of reciprocal upgrades on NW and CO now. Was he in charge when NW and CO pulled that off between each other?

I wish Oscar the best of luck and hope that Delta becomes an even greater airline.

SLC777RES

Whitehurst in a Q&A with employees in ATL late last year said NRT as a hub for Asian operations was losing significance due to new long range aircraft that would render it obsolete.

Maybe there's a been a paradigm shift regarding NRT if Anderson's been brought on to work a NW merger? Last we heard a large scale merger was the last thing on Delta's plate...interesting to see what changes the future has in store