Investing.com --Delta Air Lines Inc (N:DAL) announced on Wednesday that CEO Richard Anderson will retire on May 2, as part of an extensive corporate shuffling plan the major airliner has had in the works for more than a year.
Anderson, who has served as Delta's CEO since September, 2007, will be succeeded this spring by company president Ed Bastian. Anderson, 59, will stay with the company as the executive chairman of its Board of Directors, replacing Dan Carp, who will also retain his place on the board. Bastian's position will be filled by Glen Hauenstein, the company's executive vice president.
"Under Richard's leadership, Delta has become the most profitable and best run airline that consistently delivers excellent customer service," Carp said in a statement. "The entire Board of Directors extends a hearty thanks for his service, his leadership and his thoughtful succession planning process."
Shortly after joining Delta, Anderson helped spearhead a successful merger with Northwest in September, 2008. At the time, the acquisition created the largest airline company in the world. On Christmas Day, 2009, a passenger attempted to set off plastic explosives sewn to his underwear on Northwest Flight 253, from Amsterdam to Detroit. The failed bombing occurred four days before the operating certificates were combined.
While at Delta, Anderson was instrumental helping spur the company's recovery from bankruptcy proceedings brought about from its struggles in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Anderson, a former CEO of Northwest Airlines, also served as an executive vice president at UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (N:UNH) for four years through July, 2007.
Bastian joined Delta in 1998 as the company's vice president of finance and controller. He briefly left Delta in early 2005 to become the chief financial officer at Acuity Brands, before returning to the Atlanta-based airliner months later, before the end of the summer. Bastian, a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta.
Shares in Delta inched down 0.19 or 0.43% to 43.66 in after-hours trading. Delta shares have slumped nearly 14% since the start of the year, as poor winter weather has disrupted customer travel plans.