Delta CEO Calls It Quits!!!!!!!

[asarjfo]

Just saw it on the news, Leo Mullin is going to "retire" as of the end of the year and will stay on until the next share holder meeting in April. I guess now that he set himself up with the fat retirement package he has done all he came to do!

 

[jarhead]

Reuters
Delta CEO Retiring; Pilot Deal Elusive
Monday November 24, 7:54 am ET


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSEDAL - News) on Monday said Chairman and Chief Executive Leo Mullin would retire, an unexpected move that leaves each of the top three U.S. airlines with new leaders since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.


Mullin, a former banker who helped steer Delta through a post Sept. 11 cash crunch, will retire as CEO on Jan. 1 and will step down as chairman on May 1, the No. 3 U.S. airline said in a statement. Two men will split his duties going forward.

Mullin, who has been CEO of Delta for six years, receives a pre-tax package of $16 million, which the airline said has mostly been previously funded and disclosed.

Jack Smith, former head of General Motors Corp., will succeed Mullin as chairman, and Gerald Grinstein, former head of Burlington Northern Corp., will succeed him as CEO.

"This was a personal decision made by Leo," said a Delta spokeswoman. "He believes this is a logical transition."

PRESSURE AT THE TOP

The CEO of AMR Corp.'s (NYSE:AMR - News) American Airlines, Donald Carty, resigned last spring after he infuriated unions with an untimely disclosure of special executive retention plans. UAL Corp.'s (OTC BB:UALAQ.OB - News) United Airlines' former CEO James Goodwin was also forced to retire when a firestorm erupted after he sent an internal memo to employees saying the airline might "perish" without massive cost cuts.

United later filed for bankruptcy under new CEO Glenn Tilton and American just barely avoided it, scoring sweeping wage concessions from unions at the last minute. Carty was replaced by Gerard Arpey.

Delta, however, has costs that remain the highest in the industry now, just as its market share is being gobbled up by lower-cost competitors.

On Nov. 12, Atlanta-based Delta announced its fourth-quarter loss would be at least 50 percent largest than previously forecast. That was because more pilots than expected had decided to retire, leading to bigger pension plan charges.

Delta is trying to renegotiate its pilots union contract to bring down costs, but as yet has not been able to strike a deal. Pilots, the only unionized workers at Delta, have been upset over executive compensation.

Delta did not give a reason for Mullin's departure, only saying that it was part of discussions that he initiated earlier in the year about retiring.