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Prior to the announcement, there had been much speculation
that the new CEO would come from within Delta’s executive
team. The company’s chief financial officer, Edward Bastian,
and chief operating officer, James Whitehurst, were mentioned
as the two most likely candidates to succeed Grinstein. At the
time of Anderson’s appointment, Delta also announced that
Bastian would assume the role of president and CEO. A little
more than a week later, Whitehurst announced his departure.
Bastian and Whitehurst both gained the respect of many
people within Delta and the airline industry for their roles
in helping the company emerge from bankruptcy. While
industry analysts say that Delta’s financial burdens predated
the September 11 terrorist attacks, the events of that day sent
the airline industry into a tailspin and left Delta gasping for
air. In an effort to save the ailing carrier, Delta put together
a transition plan to try to restructure on its own. But high
oil prices and fare price pressures from the low-cost carriers
ultimately were too much for the airline to overcome, and on
September 15, 2005, the company filed for bankruptcy.
But while bankruptcy marked the end for some of the industry’s
other network carriers – TWA, PanAm, and Eastern – Delta’s
story has a much different ending. Despite its seemingly gloomy
position, Delta stuck to the transition plan it had in place prior
to filing for Chapter 11. With various elements key to the
company’s transformation, the plan left no part of the business
untouched, focusing on everything from repairing the balance
sheet to dramatically growing its international franchise. But
one of the most significant changes and certainly the most
public change was the company’s commitment to reinventing
the customer experience.
While investing in things such as
onboard signature cocktails, new aircraft seats with live TV, new
uniforms, and a brand new check-in lobby in Atlanta may have
seemed counterintuitive for a bankrupt airline, it’s exactly what
Delta did – and it worked.
On April 30, just 19 months after
filing bankruptcy and 18 months after its common stock was
delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, Delta emerged
victorious. Three days later Gerald Grinstein purchased 1,000
shares of new Delta stock as the company participated in the
Opening and Closing Bell ceremonies with the NYSE, signaling
Delta’s return to the “big board.”
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