DAL Delta Air Lines Inc

Richard Anderson, the skilled and pugnacious chief executive who propelled Delta Air Lines Inc. to financial and operational dominance in the nine years he has been its leader, is retiring in May and will become executive chairman of the board.

He will be succeeded as CEO by Ed Bastian, Delta's longtime president, the company said Wednesday.

Mr. Anderson, 60 years old, has displayed a golden touch at Atlanta-based Delta, the nation's No. 2 airline by traffic. He arrived just as Delta was emerging from bankruptcy-court protection, merged it with Northwest Airlines a year later and built the combined company into a highly profitable machine with the highest market cap -- $34 billion – of any U.S. carrier.

Under his tutelage, Delta stitched together a global route network by taking stakes in foreign carriers, purchased an oil refinery, and wooed customers with its sunny, nonunion airport agents and flight attendants and its unprecedented operational reliability. Last year, the company had 161 days in which it didn't cancel any flights at all.

Delta said Mr. Bastian will be succeeded as president by Glen Hauenstein, the executive vice president and chief revenue officer. Daniel Carp, currently Delta's nonexecutive chairman, said Wednesday that this succession plan has been several years in the making.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 03, 2016 17:15 ET (22:15 GMT)

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