ATLANTA, Oct. 31, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) today released to its 75,000 employees the following memo announcing leadership changes following the company's recent merger.
Internal Memorandum
To: Delta Colleagues Worldwide From: Richard Anderson and Ed Bastian Subject: The New Delta Officer Team
Today we are pleased to introduce the officer team that will lead the new Delta and its more than 75,000 professional men and women worldwide. Complete organizational charts are available on DeltaNet, with some updates to the July announcement.
Steve Gorman, who joined Delta in December 2007 as executive vice president - Operations, has been appointed to the position of executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer. In this expanded role, Steve will lead all aspects of Delta's operational performance to deliver the service excellence our customers have come to expect.
Hank Halter, a 10-year veteran of Delta, is being promoted to the post of senior vice president and Chief Financial Officer and will join Delta's Corporate Leadership Team. He will have responsibility for the overall leadership of Delta's finance team to partner with the business leaders and deliver industry-leading financial results. Hank will report to Ed.
In recognition of their leadership and expanded roles within the new Delta, we are also pleased to announce the following internal promotions:
-- Tim Mapes is being promoted to senior vice president -
Marketing, reporting to Ed.
-- Ray Winborne is being promoted to senior vice president -
Finance and Controller, reporting to Hank.
As anticipated, the integration process also has allowed us to reposition some members of our officer team. Additional updates to our July announcement include:
-- Jim Cron, now serving as senior vice president - Global
Sales and Distribution, in addition to his NWA responsibilities
-- Gail Grimmett, appointed to the new role of senior vice
president - New York
-- Tom Bach, assuming the role of senior vice president -
Revenue Management
-- Vinay Dube, rejoining the alliances team as vice president -
Alliances
-- Tammy Lee Stanoch, appointed to the role of vice president -
Corporate Affairs, Minneapolis
In these new roles, Jim will report to Ed; Gail, Tom and Vinay will report to Glen Hauenstein; and Tammy Lee Stanoch will report to Ned Walker and Andi Newman.
Additional officer-level promotions include:
-- Jim Graham, who has been promoted to vice president - Flying
Operations, reporting to Steve Dickson
-- James Sarvis, who has been promoted to vice president -
Airport Customer Service, International, reporting to Gil West
-- David Watson, who has been promoted to vice president -
In-Flight Service Business Operations, reporting to Joanne
Smith
-- Andy Zarras, who has been promoted to vice president - Airport
Customer Service, Detroit, reporting to Crystal Knotek
Joining us on the CLT, along with Steve and Hank are:
-- Mike Becker, executive vice president and Chief Operating
Officer - NWA, who will support Ed in managing the NWA, Inc.
operations, while leading a team committed to a smooth
integration of operational functions.
-- Mike Campbell, executive vice president -- Human Resources
and Labor Relations, who will lead the team of professionals
responsible for the Human Resources and Labor functions for
the combined company, championing a direct and engaging work
environment.
-- Glen Hauenstein, executive vice president - Network Planning
and Revenue Management, who will continue to lead our network,
planning and revenue management efforts as we continue to
build a diversified, profitable worldwide network and global
alliance.
-- Ben Hirst, senior vice president and General Counsel, who will
serve as our chief legal advisor, working with a team of law
professionals who will continue to play a key role in our full
integration.
-- Ned Walker - senior vice president and Chief Communications
Officer, who will lead a team of professional communicators
responsible for all worldwide internal and external
communications, maintaining our commitment to open, honest
and direct communications.
-- Theresa Wise, senior vice president and Chief Information
Officer, who will lead our overall technology strategy and the
integration of systems to deliver the best technology
solutions to power the new Delta.
Separately, we will be thanking the leaders at Delta and Northwest who will not be a part of the team going forward. Both airlines have successfully navigated through many challenges to create the premier global airline and it is clear their contributions helped make this possible.
We have assembled a world-class team with diverse skills and abilities who will focus on building on our strengths and creating a great place to work for our people, a great operation with industry-leading levels of service for our customers, and superior financial performance with real returns for our shareholders. We have said all along that this is a different type of merger. That is due in large part to the caliber of people serving at every level of the company. We count it a privilege to lead a dynamic leadership and employee team, 75,000 strong.
Thank you.
About Delta Air Lines
With its acquisition of Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines is now the world's largest airline. From its hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita, Delta and its Northwest subsidiary offer service to more than 375 destinations worldwide in 66 countries and serve more than 170 million passengers each year. Delta's marketing alliances allow customers to earn and redeem either SkyMiles or WorldPerks on more than 16,000 daily flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta and its 75,000 worldwide employees are reshaping the aviation industry as the only U.S. airline to offer a full global network. More information about the new Delta is available online at news.delta.com.
The Delta and Northwest Logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5189