Sankaps

As a former Northwest employee, I think this is the best thing that could have happened to Delta. Richard was held in high regard by almost all at NWA (including labor unions), and was starting to really make a difference to how NWA ran its business in the short time he was CEO (I remember a speech he gave to employees where he reminded us that the airline exists to serve the customer, and not the other way around, and how NWA had to change its culture from one where we did everything from the point of view of convenience for the operation with customers being considered irrelevant, to one that made operational decisions for the benefit of customers who paid our salaries. A lesson that many airlines still need to learn, it seems, seeing the continuing trend of airlines holding customers hostage onboard aircraft during lengthy delays). He also issued a memo urging NWA senior management to travel coach class when on company business so that they experienced what customers experienced -- Richard himself always travelled coach. This did not make him popular with some of the "old world" senior managers!

When he quit NWA (disagreement with the board on philosophical issues), it was a sad day for NWA. I was personally crushingly disappointed. The current CEO, who I have observed (before he became CEO) not budging from his seat in WBC and avoiding eye contact with employees and customers alike, does not hold a candle to Richard Anderson.

Good for Delta. A loss for NWA. Richard, here's wishing you the very best at Delta.

SLC777RES

SanKaps - thanks for the headsup, that's great news indeed

Lehava

Horrible decision on Delta's part. Expect to see a long string of valuable players leave the airline!!!!!!! It was known quite some time ago that Jim Whitehurst has made no secret it if wasn't him he would be moving on.

Sadly disappointed in the BOD!!!!!

iahphx

If most NW employees feel that way, and he has the endorsement of Mike Boyd, Anderson is probably not a bad guy. Although I must say that if he is in fact a "brilliant" airline CEO, I missed that during his fairly short tenure at NW. I also wonder if DL employees will give him half a chance.

Anderson has certainly made a lot of public comments today indicating he's in no rush to merge Delta with anybody. I think that's probably quite true. Although perhaps rewarding to shareholders, it would be very difficult to merge 2 major airlines, and without one in bankruptcy, most airline CEOs probably wouldn't even try. Certainly the US Airways situation is somewhat sobering. For instance, you can read today how "old" US Airways pilots won't even sit down with former America West pilots to negotiate a new contract with management, because they're still pissed at an arbitrator's ruling which decided each group's relative seniority.

BTW, Bastian's decision to stay and Whitehurst's apparent decision to go was foretold by this fascinating NYTimes story that ran during the US Airways "crisis."
__________________________________________________ ________

Suppose Delta prevails and remains independent and — as Grinstein has said he would like to do — looks inside Delta's headquarters in Atlanta for the next chief. Could Bastian and Whitehurst work for each other?

"Whether it be Jim, me or someone else, I'd be fine with that," Bastian said. "I came back here to be CFO. I'm flattered my name has been thrown into the ring."

Whitehurst said, "I'd very much like to be CEO." Asked later whether he would work for Bastian, he declined to answer.


http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/...ness/delta.php

gustoj820

Richard Anderson might also be helpful as Delta looks towards expanding in the Asian market.

I think associating past and present NWA problems with Richard Anderson is frivolous. He's very competent in airline ops, and as others have indicated, should be fine if most of the present talent stays on.

SLC777RES

Here's a video of the anouncement

http://arco.vo.llnwd.net/o2/arcostre...lta_082207.asx

N866DA

Why do you expect that?

Richard Anderson hasn't even completed a day on the job and everybody is in a rush to condemn him. I'm having some difficulty understanding why. He has already communicated the following to Delta employees:

1) he believes in the plan and will stay the course (expand international, strive for best in class performance, service, and fleet cleanliness)

2) there is no hidden agenda to merge the company with NW

3) he is going to spend the next several weeks getting to know us and listening to us

Jerry Grinstein, a man I trust more than any other airline executive I have ever worked under, said Anderson is a person of great integrity. Therefore, I will take him at his word until and unless he gives me a reason not to. Delta still has a deep bench on the executive level, even without Whitehurst. I will be sorry to see him go, but Bastian, Hauenstein, Cortelyou, Kolshak, Smith, etc. are all still here as of now. Under each of those executives exist lean, results-driven organizations of capable, talented directors and managers. Delta is not going to be re-Mullinized. Tomorrow, the employees will still come to work, the planes will still be clean, and we will still serve the mojitos.

KeaauFlyer

I think a lot of the negativity surrounding Mr. Anderson's hiring has to do with going outside of the current DL management team. Mr. Grinstein, whom a lot of DL employees and PAX respect, had made his preference for an "inside" person well known. Many like the idea of someone coming up through the ranks, but the truth is that often such people are not necessarily the best. Of course there are some who simply recoil at the thought of someone with any connection to NW. Personally, I wish Mr. Anderson well. A lot of folks at NW miss him and refer to him as the only CEO they've had in recent memory who gave a damn about the customers. Check out some of the comments on the NW forum.

ClipperDelta

Wow, so much negativity and the guy isn't even on the job yet. With all due respect, many of you are overreacting based on emotions and unsubstantiated opinions, mixing up CEOs and time periods. By all accounts, Anderson's tenure at NW was rather benign in terms of employee relations, customer service, etc., In fact, if there's any criticism, it's probably that he was too "nice" with the employees back then and didn't make the tough decisions that could have prevented them from Ch.11 a few years down the road. Anderson was said to have left NWA because he disagreed about the AMFA situation (whether he left because he didn't want to deal with a difficult situation or because he disagreed with the Board on how to handle AMFA we will probably never know)....Somebody from NW please correct me if I'm wrong...

One of the big reasons I believe the BoD went for someone like Anderson vs. Whitehurst is simply his experience. Whitehurst joined Delta in 2002 as a Consultant - that's just 5 years with the industry, and 5 years with Delta. I am sure Whitehurst is brilliant, a fast learner with tremendous interpersonal skills, etc.. But he is ultimately not completely "seasoned" in the rough-and-tumble world of the Airlines. Others reference "young" CEOs like Arpey at AA or Parker at US to say that age should not be a factor. However, there are some differences here, including the fact that both Arpey and Parker have spent most of their careers in the airline business (Arpey since college). Also, youth, motivation, and vigor do not make up for general business experience; as the CEO of a worldwide airline, not only do you have to deal with employees (which Whitehurst is obviously good at), but also the investor community, the government, etc. Whitehurst's focus to date in those 5 years has been in Operations (yes, a huge part of an airline, but not the entire part). One only needs to look at the difference between Grinstein's versus Parker's testimonies in Congress (during the Delta-US Airways battle) to see how much difference Experience and being a "seasoned" business executive matter. Also, people like Grinstein and Anderson for example, have established extensive contacts both inside and outside of the industry for a longer period of time than Whitehurst; all of these kinds of contacts and presence are invaluable to a CEO....At the end of the day, the BoD probably considered that Whitehurst did not have enough "heft" to assume the CEO position at this point even though he has a significant number of strengths.

Now, if only Whitehurst would check his ego and ambitions, and stay on to gain more experience and continue to build the New Delta, he would still have a shot in the future. Think about it, he is 39; Bastian is I believe 49 and Anderson is 52. If Anderson stays on for 6-8 years, Jim would only still be 45-47 by the time Anderson leaves, at which time he would be even better positioned to assume the top spot. Unfortunately, I do think that his ego will get the better of him and that he will leave...

HeathrowGuy

Richard Anderson is one of the best in the business - he was responsible for the brief period during the late 1990s/early 2000s when NWA's service levels were somewhat above-average amongst US legacy carriers. He was also visionary insofar as he put NWA on a cost-cutting track by Q1 2001, BEFORE everyone else jumped on the bandwagon post-9/11.

His biggest demonstrated weakness is extracting concessions from employees - as word on the street has it, his departure from NWA was the result of his unwillingness to take a hatchet to NWA's labor structure (not just in terms of costs, but also in terms of breaking AMFA outright and getting ALPA and the FAs into some state of submission w/r/t management) - thus Steenland's elevation to CEO for precisely this purpose. That said, DL has done all the labor restructuring it needs, so this shouldn't pose a problem for Anderson this time around.

iahphx

Interesting article in BusinessWeek this morning. It casts the BOD's decision to go with Anderson as revenge by the unsecured creditors (now shareholders) who were screwed by DL management's refusal to consider US Airways' offer. I don't know if this is accurate.

It also quotes Whitehurst as saying he's not resigning. I don't know whether that means he plans to stay, or simply wants to be fired (presumably to obtain better severance benefits).

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/...mpaign_id=yhoo

DL Platinum

Sure Wall Street will love it! Can't wait to have all AVODs turned off for mainland flights, no snack service in coach other than you pay, disgruntled GA, front desk staff, FA, pilots, etc.

Just don't understand why they look at him as having done something good - NW is a MESS. Delta was at least showing promise of returning to a decent airline.

God help us!

ClipperDelta

I don't think that makes too much sense either...the Unsecured Creditors Committee did have the final say, regardless of what Grinstein and Co., wanted. If one looks at the current BoD (including 3 holdovers from the last BoD), there is no indication that any of them strongly represents the interests of the previous creditors or that they would have strongly favored a combination with US.

sxf24

All of the qualities you mention for NW came post-Anderson.

Gargoyle

People speak of Anderson as being an outsider, which is true in the sense that he didn't work in DL management. However, as a member of the DL BOD he was, from the viewpoint of the BOD, an insider. Look at the selection from their perspective: they knew him, they had worked with him. The BOD has experience working with him, and so they know that they can continue to work with him, and they know how they will work with him.

How long was he on the board? Everyone focuses on his two year NW tenure, but his DL tenure is also very significant.