Delta Chairman Richard Anderson Retires

By Ezequiel Minaya 

Delta Air Lines Inc. said Tuesday that board Chairman Richard H. Anderson had retired and would be replaced by Francis S. Blake, a former CEO of Home Depot Inc.

Mr. Anderson had been on Delta's board since 2007, the year he was appointed CEO of the airline. He was named executive chairman of the board in May, when he retired as head of the company.

Mr. Blake, who has been on the board since 2014, will now serve as nonexecutive board chairman.

Mr. Anderson displayed a steady hand at the helm of Atlanta-based Delta, among the nation's largest airlines by traffic. He arrived just after it emerged from bankruptcy-court protection, merged it with Northwest Airlines a year later, and built the combined company into a highly profitable machine.

He was followed as CEO of the carrier by Ed Bastian, then the airline's longtime president.

Last week, Delta said in an investor update that cost controls and productivity efforts helped the carrier maintain its third-quarter outlook despite an August computer outage that forced the airline to cancel more than 2,100 flights over three days.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 11, 2016 18:21 ET (22:21 GMT)

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