Leo at Delta

[RichO]

Hey, Leo is stepping down/retiring from Delta........any input on how things may change with mother Delta?

 

[ATR-DRIVR]

I would guess that he is taking a shiite load of money with him...at the expense of a thousand pilots and thousands of other employees. Other changes? Might be interesting...

 

[Bill Mostellar]

An article from Reuters says that most of his retirement is already funded.

Leo Retires

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


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSEAL - 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.

 

[Palerider957]

**CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**......Jack Smith former GM CEO, that is scary. Didn't GM loose BILLIONS in the last few years, and still not make significant reforms? Also, you can bet Jack Smith has NO love for organized labor, what with unskilled auto workers making 70K plus a year.

On the surface, this is not a good thing.

 

[XRMEFLYER]

Retiring Eh...

Got to love how a guy can work somewhere for a few years and receive a retirement/pension/whatever those scumbags want to call it. The kind of money he has collected over his tenure certainly should make for a comfortable retirement.

It's high time that executive compensation be tied directly to performance. Mine and most everyone else's certainly is.

Is anyone buying that line about how they have to offer the kind of compensation packages that they do "in order to attract and retain" the most qualified people? I'm fairly certain that there are more than a few Wharton MBAs out there on Virginia Ave. that could have done as well if not better for a whole heck of a lot less money at a time when the company is absolutely hemorrhaging money from the eyes and ears.

How about opening the job up to the lowest bidder(with some obvious minimum qualifications) like they do some of the DCI flying. Maybe then they wouldn't have to ask for (or just take in the case of some employee groups) as much in the way of concessions from the very people without whom the company would absolutely cease to exist. Can the same be said of those who occupy the front offices?

AMF!