Delta Air Lines is of course a very well run airline, and that largely comes down to competent leaders. It’s an interesting time when it comes to leadership at the airline, since it seems like we’re in a period where a lot could change.
While there are no signs of Delta CEO Ed Bastian retiring, he’s now 68 years old, so you’d think he won’t necessarily stick around that much longer. Meanwhile Delta President Glen Hauenstein, really the strategy mastermind at the airline, has just retired.
So there have been a lot of questions about what the future holds for Delta’s top management — who will become the new President, and will that next President also eventually become the next CEO? Well, there’s now an interesting update…
In this post:
Delta makes several senior executive appointments
Delta has just announced several new senior management appointments:
- Peter Carter has been appointed President at Delta, replacing Glen Hauenstein; he has been at Delta for decades, and is currently the Chief External Affairs Officer, overseeing international, legal, regulatory, government affairs, sustainability, and diversity, equity, and inclusion teams worldwide
- Dan Janki has been appointed Chief Operating Officer at Delta, replacing John Laughter, who is retiring; he joined Delta in 2021 from General Electric, and is currently the Chief Financial Officer
- Erik Snell has been appointed Chief Financial Officer at Delta, replacing Dan Janki, who is becoming the Chief Operating Officer; he has been at Delta for a long time and is currently the Chief Customer Experience Officer
- Ranjan Goswami has been appointed Chief Marketing and Product Officer at Delta; he has been at Delta for many years, and is currently the SVP of Customer Experience Design
Here’s how Bastian describes these appointments:
“Our success always relies on our ability to operate as one team, with shared values that reflect and strengthen our people-focused culture, elevating Delta to be the brand of choice for our customers. These changes demonstrate Delta’s deep bench of talent and commitment to developing and uplifting the leaders who will shape Delta’s journey for years to come.”
These leadership appointments have interesting implications
As mentioned earlier in the post, I figured that there would be another announcement imminently, with Hauenstein retiring. Delta’s management structure seems to be pretty centralized, in terms of Bastian really being the public face of the company, and Hauenstein being the strategy guy quietly working in the background (well, until recently).
Below them, the other executives just weren’t terrible visible, at least to the public. I almost wondered if Delta could eventually look outside the company when it comes to recruiting the next senior executives. However, that seemed unlikely, since the airline tends to heavily promote from within, and only wants people with the Delta “ethos” (however you’d like to define that).
With that in mind, I’d say these latest appointments are very telling. A few things stand out:
- It’s very interesting to see the Chief External Affairs Officer promoted to President; you’d think that suggests he could be next up for the CEO role, even if it’s not necessarily the progression one might expect (of the four people who got promoted, Carter is the one I know least about)
- Janki and Snell are essentially making lateral(ish) moves, presumably so that they can get more well rounded experience, which suggests to me that they might be “groomed” to eventually be in the number one or number two spot
- Goswami is getting the most logical and direct promotion here, as he has been involved in passenger experience and SkyMiles for a long time, and he’s essentially taking over Snell’s role
The only other thing worth mentioning is that Delta Chief Commercial Officer Joe Esposito continues to maintain his role. Up until now, I would’ve assumed there were good odds that he’d replace Hauenstein as President, so I’m a bit surprised to see no movement there.
Then again, it’s anyone’s guess how this all plays out. It’s possible that someone else might pass Carter to become CEO, and he stays President in the long term. I wouldn’t necessarily assume that his appointment as President means he’s next in line for CEO, after Bastian. But again, who knows…
Bottom line
Delta has made some senior leadership appointments, including promoting an executive to the role of President, plus a new Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. This all follows the recent retirement of President Glen Hauenstein, plus the general reality of CEO Ed Bastian now being 68 years old, so one assumes he won’t stick around the company for that much longer.
I think these latest appointments give us a better sense of who might be in line for the role of CEO next.
What do you make of Delta’s leadership appointments, and how do you see this playing out?
Ed Bastian has relentlessly focused on fluffing his own public image, with running an airline far seconday. Does any non-founder Fortune 500 CEO get such a constant stream adulating puff pieces? Maybe this guy elevated to president has focused on that and been rewarded.
The nickeling and diming of presumably the airline's best customers I find really annoying. Really someone buys a business class ticket and you want to charge them for a seat assignment?
Sure, do that to the passengers back in coach that purchased a ticket on your airline because it was the cheapest fare they found on Google flights. But someone that flys enough to be a top elite and has your co-branded cc and if...
The nickeling and diming of presumably the airline's best customers I find really annoying. Really someone buys a business class ticket and you want to charge them for a seat assignment?
Sure, do that to the passengers back in coach that purchased a ticket on your airline because it was the cheapest fare they found on Google flights. But someone that flys enough to be a top elite and has your co-branded cc and if they buy a "discounted" business ticket you want to Mickey Mouse them for a seat charge?
At least AA hasn't sunk that low-yet.
Not related: Bloomberg News
“Heathrow Faces Mounting Cancellations, Parked Planes From War”
And in breaking news, Fellatio Barbie was just shitcanned.
HA HA!
I was just thinking that Ben has had a dearth of articles about the big 4 while other sites are going nuts w/ them.
Glad to know that I am still beckoned by the crowd...
It is precisely because many of these people aren't high profile other than Janki and to a lesser degree Carter - who often are on earnings calls - that I can't say much about them.
I have said, however,...
I was just thinking that Ben has had a dearth of articles about the big 4 while other sites are going nuts w/ them.
Glad to know that I am still beckoned by the crowd...
It is precisely because many of these people aren't high profile other than Janki and to a lesser degree Carter - who often are on earnings calls - that I can't say much about them.
I have said, however, and I think it is still true that DL still heavily promotes from within and has a deep bench of talent - from which these have been drawn.
I also believe that DL is as strong as it is because they build cohesive strategy and then execute on its stategies much better than most companies.
As with every company they need to tighten and refine but, in reality, I don't think much will change in what DL sets out to do or accomplishes.
Ed Bastion the DAL CEO is 68 years old. Janki (57), the new COO, was at GE for 25 years and came to DL in 2021. Carter (62), the new President, came from a Minneapolis law firm in 2015. Laughter (55), the outgoing COO, who has been at DL for 30 years is getting the boot. Quite the managerial purge.
Mike Spanos (COO, left August 2024 after one year. Came from Six Flags)
...
Ed Bastion the DAL CEO is 68 years old. Janki (57), the new COO, was at GE for 25 years and came to DL in 2021. Carter (62), the new President, came from a Minneapolis law firm in 2015. Laughter (55), the outgoing COO, who has been at DL for 30 years is getting the boot. Quite the managerial purge.
Mike Spanos (COO, left August 2024 after one year. Came from Six Flags)
Glen Hauenstein (President, retired February 2026)
Alicia Tillman (Chief Marketing Officer, departing March 2026)
William C. Carroll (Principal Accounting Officer, retiring March 2026)
John Laughter (EVP, COO and President of TechOps, retiring April 2026)
So they just made their former head of D.E.I. their President? Nice.
Reactions to this should be - - - interesting, lol.
Not to mention, predictable.
Come on Tim …. Your time has come, let rip!
Clocking in for Timmy’s 7 chapter book about why this is bad for AA, and Delta will someday be the only airline in North America via sheer exceptionalism.
Get ready for a next generation of Delta leadership dedicated to leveraging LLMs to personalize pricing and bleed people dry even more efficiently while continuing to present themselves as premium when they are, in fact, only the best of the worst (the big US 3).
Ben - I would say one of the biggest stories in aviation this week would be the whole AA catering meltdown at LHR?...reported by JonNYC
Oh, regardless of personal feelings about DL, it is such a well run airline.
What, they didn't select Tim Dunn?
There are many things I don’t love about Delta, but this long term leadership planning is an admirable trait and further evidence of long term strategic acuity.
Meanwhile, American is a ridiculous mess with no leadership accountability and a pliant board of sycophants.
Correct- Delta is not as successful as it is because of luck. Post-NW merger, Delta has consistently operated its business to the best of its ability (knowing aviation is tough to be profitable/show growth) and virtually everything it does is fully thought through/calculated. That includes management training/succession planning so that Delta's management is capable of determining how to balance what's working now and what will be necessary five years down the road.