Richard Anderson | |
---|---|
Born | Galveston, Texas, U.S. | May 2, 1955
Education | Texas Tech University, Lubbock University of Houston, Clear Lake (BA) South Texas College of Law (JD) |
Spouse | Sue Anderson |
Children | 2 |
CEO of Amtrak | |
In office July 12, 2017 –April 15, 2020 | |
Preceded by | Charles Moorman |
Succeeded by | William J. Flynn |
Richard H. Anderson (born May 2,1955) is a retired American lawyer and business executive. In his early career,he served as a prosecutor and corporate attorney,before moving into executive positions. His most prominent roles were as CEO of several large companies in the transportation industry:Northwest Airlines (2001–2004),Delta Air Lines (2007–2016),and Amtrak (2017–2020).
Anderson was born in Galveston,Texas,to Hale Anderson,an office worker for the Atchison,Topeka and Santa Fe Railway,and Frances Anderson,a medical receptionist. His family,which also included five sisters,moved to Dallas and later Amarillo,Texas. His parents died of cancer when Richard was 20 years old. [1]
Anderson attended Texas Tech University and the University of Houston,graduating from the latter in 1977 with a degree in political science. He earned a J.D. degree in 1982 from the South Texas College of Law before working as a prosecutor for the district attorney office of Harris County,Texas. [1]
Anderson entered the aviation industry after accepting a legal position at Continental Airlines and served as the airline's representative during the investigation of Continental Airlines Flight 1713 in 1987. [1] Anderson,who had never considered a career in the aviation industry,accepted the position at the urging of Ben Hirst,a neighbor who worked at Continental as a legal counsel. [2]
Hirst and Anderson left Continental for Northwest Airlines in 1990,with the latter serving as a deputy general counsel for the airline. [1] At Northwest,Anderson was initially charged with labor relations and government affairs. Despite having no experience in airline operations,he was named senior vice president of technical operations and airport affairs. [3] [4] Anderson was promoted to CEO of Northwest Airlines in June 2001 after the departure of John Dasburg.
Anderson served as chief executive officer of Northwest Airlines from 2001 to 2004,Executive Vice President of United Healthcare from 2004 to 2007,and as CEO of Delta Air Lines from 2007 to 2016,which would later merge with Northwest. [5] [6] In 2010,during his tenure at Delta,Anderson led an anti-union campaign against the Association of Flight Attendants,calling the labor union "un-Christian" and "immoral." [7]
On February 3,2016,Delta Air Lines announced Anderson would retire as CEO effective May 2,2016,and assume position as Executive Chairman of the Delta Air Lines board of directors. [8] On October 11,2016,Anderson announced his retirement from the Board of Directors effective on the same day. He was succeeded by former chairman and CEO of The Home Depot,Francis Blake. [9]
In June 2017,Amtrak announced Anderson as the organization's next President and CEO,replacing Charles "Wick" Moorman. [10] Anderson assumed the title of President on July 12,2017. Anderson also assumed the role of co-CEO on that date,serving alongside Moorman. Anderson remained co-CEO with Moorman until the end of 2017,at which time he assumed the role of sole CEO. On March 2,2020,it was announced that Anderson would step down as CEO on April 15,2020,after fulfilling his three-year commitment to the company. He remained with Amtrak through the end of the year as a senior advisor to his replacement,William J. Flynn. [11] During his tenure at Amtrak,Anderson initiated a variety of controversial policies such as storing equipment during Covid rather than maintaining it in serviceable condition,failing to anticipate the surging passenger demand after Covid,and promoting the retirement of many Amtrak senior managers which robbed the company of much of its institutional knowledge and experience.
In May 2024,Anderson joined the Norfolk Southern Railway board. [12]
Anderson was named Aviation Week's Person of the Year for 2015. [13] In 2013,he was the recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for distinguished achievement in commercial air transportation.
United Airlines,Inc. is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago,Illinois. United operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and all six inhabited continents primarily out of its eight hubs,with Chicago–O'Hare having the largest number of daily flights and Denver carrying the most passengers in 2023. Regional service is operated by independent carriers under the brand name United Express.
Delta Air Lines is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier headquartered in Atlanta,Georgia. The United States' oldest operating airline and the seventh-oldest operating worldwide,Delta along with its subsidiaries and regional affiliates,including Delta Connection,operates over 5,400 flights daily and serves 325 destinations in 52 countries on six continents. Delta is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. As of the end of 2023,it had 100,000 employees.
Continental Airlines was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers.
Northwest Airlines Corp. was a major airline in the United States from 1926 until it merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010. The merger made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines–US Airways merger in 2013.
Endeavor Air is an regional airline in the United States headquartered at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis,Minnesota. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines,and staffs,operates and maintains aircraft used on Delta Connection flights that are scheduled,marketed and sold by Delta Air Lines.
Mobile Regional Airport is a public/military airport 13 miles (21 km) west of Mobile,in Mobile County,Alabama,United States. The airport is owned and operated by the Mobile Airport Authority,a self-funded entity that receives no local tax dollars.
Worcester Regional Airport is three miles (5 km) west of Worcester,in Worcester County,Massachusetts,United States. The main property lies within municipalities of Worcester and Leicester,with supporting facilities in Paxton. Once owned by the City of Worcester,the airport has been owned and operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) since June 2010.
ExpressJet Airlines was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1987 until 2022. It was headquartered in College Park,Georgia. The company began as Britt Airways and flew exclusively as Continental Express,the contracted codeshare partner for Continental Airlines. The name was changed to ExpressJet at the beginning of 1995 as the company began acquiring regional jets,replacing its fleet of turboprop aircraft. Along with flying as Continental Express,ExpressJet expanded flying under the Delta Connection brand from 2007 through 2008 and again from 2012 through 2018. Service as American Eagle was flown between 2012 and 2019 and service under the United Express brand began in 2009. ExpressJet also flew an independent operation under their own brand in 2007 through 2008. When Continental Airlines merged into United Airlines in 2012,the Continental Express operations were added to the United Express service. In September 2020,it exited the fee-for-departure airline market and temporarily ceased flights after the conclusion of its contract with its sole remaining mainline partner,United Airlines. In September 2021,ExpressJet resumed operations as both an air charter provider and a regional airline under its own brand aha!—short for "Air-Hotel-Adventure." The brand's route structure focused on the West Coast of the United States with a hub at Reno-Tahoe International Airport,and scheduled flights began on October 24,2021. The airline,including its brand aha!,filed for bankruptcy on August 23,2022,having ceased all operations the previous day. In July 2023,the airline announced plans to relaunch as an air charter service using a single leased Boeing 777.
William Douglas Parker is an American businessman who is the chairman of American Airlines Group,the parent company of American Airlines. Parker previously served as chief executive officer of the airline from 2001 to 2023.
Robert Forman Six was an American businessman who was the CEO of Continental Airlines from 1936 to 1980. Beginning his career in the early days of commercial aviation in the United States,his time as Continental Airlines CEO saw it become one of the world's largest and most profitable legacy airlines.
Compass Airlines,LLC,was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 2006 to 2020,when it shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was headquartered in Delta Air Lines Building C at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport in Fort Snelling,Hennepin County,Minnesota;prior to December 16,2009,it was headquartered in unincorporated Fairfax County,Virginia,United States,east of the Chantilly CDP. The airline launched inaugural service with a single Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft under the Northwest Airlink brand between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Washington,D.C.,on May 2,2007. On August 21,2007,it began flying two Embraer E175 76-passenger aircraft,and expanded to 36 aircraft by December 2008.
The Tony Jannus Award recognizes outstanding individual achievement in scheduled commercial aviation by airline executives,inventors and manufacturers,and government leaders. The award is conferred annually by the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society and was first bestowed in 1964 in Tampa,Florida,U.S. Its namesake,aviation pioneer Tony Jannus,piloted the inaugural flight of the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line on January 1,1914,the first scheduled commercial airline flight in the world using heavier-than-air aircraft. In addition to preserving the legacy of Tony Jannus,the non-profit Society also offers financial assistance to college students pursuing studies in aviation and conducts an annual essay contest for high school students to encourage careers in aviation.
Charles Wickliffe "Wick" Moorman IV is an American businessman and railroader. Moorman is currently a consultant with Amtrak,where he formerly served as president and CEO as well as co-CEO. Prior to his hiring by Amtrak,Moorman served as chairman,president and CEO of Norfolk Southern Railway. At Norfolk Southern,he succeeded David R. Goode on February 1,2006. Moorman served as president from 2004 to 2013 and chief executive officer from 2005 until his initial retirement in 2015.
Andrew Bart Steinberg was a leading aviation regulatory lawyer,who held several key posts in the public and private sectors in the United States. He served until 2008 as the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs within the United States Department of Transportation,after being confirmed to the position by the U.S. Senate on September 29,2006,following appointment by President George W. Bush. Prior to that post,he had been appointed by the president in May 2003,as the chief counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration,where he served as the top legal advisor to FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey. Steinberg was a partner in the Washington D.C. office of the international law firm of Jones Day,where he led the firm's aviation regulatory practice,a post once held by aviation pioneer L. Welch Pogue.
Douglas M. Steenland is an American former corporate attorney and former airline executive. He had a 17-year career at Northwest Airlines,where he held numerous executive roles,including as president from 2001 through 2008,and president and CEO of Northwest from October 2004 until its merger with Delta Air Lines in October 2008. Since then he has served on a number of boards of directors,and as an advisor to the Blackstone Group.
Delta Air Lines is a major American airline. The company's history began with the world's first aerial crop dusting operation called Huff Daland Dusters Inc.,founded in 1925 in Macon,Georgia to combat the boll weevil infestation of cotton crops. C.E. Woolman,general manager and later Delta's first CEO,led a group of investors to acquire the company's assets. Delta Air Service was incorporated on December 3,1928,and named after the Mississippi Delta region.
Southern Airways Express is a commuter airline operating across the United States with headquarters in Palm Beach,Florida. Southern Airways Express,commonly referred to as 'Southern',acts as a local service airline for dozens of cities across all U.S. time zones. The majority of Southern's routes are subsidized through the Essential Air Service program by the United States Department of Transportation.
Dallas Love Field is a city-owned public airport in the neighborhood of Love Field,6 miles northwest of downtown Dallas,Texas. It was Dallas' main airport until 1974 when Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opened. Love Field covers an area of 1,300 acres (530 ha) at an elevation of 487 feet (148 m) above mean sea level and has three runways.
Edward Herman Bastian is an American business executive. He is the ninth and current chief executive officer of Delta Air Lines,serving in this role since May 2,2016.
Media related to Richard H. Anderson at Wikimedia Commons