Exhibit 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Corporate Communications
404-715-2554
LEO F. MULLIN, DELTA CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
ANNOUNCES DECISION TO RETIRE;
STEPS DOWN AS CEO ON JAN. 1, 2004;
REMAINS CHAIRMAN UNTIL DELTA'S ANNUAL MEETING IN APRIL 2004
GERALD GRINSTEIN SUCCEEDS MULLIN AS
DELTA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ON JAN. 1, 2004
JOHN F. SMITH, JR. TO BECOME
DELTA NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AT THE 2004 ANNUAL MEETING
ATLANTA, Nov. 24, 2003 -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) announced today that
Leo F. Mullin, Delta's chairman and chief executive officer, has decided to
retire on May 1, 2004. Mullin will step down as CEO on Jan. 1, 2004, and he will
remain chairman until Delta's Annual Meeting of Shareowners on April 23, 2004.
The Delta Board has named two highly regarded former chief executive
officers, who have been integrally involved with Delta, to succeed Mullin.
Gerald Grinstein has been named Delta's CEO effective Jan. 1, 2004. He is
a 16-year member of Delta's Board and has chaired the Board's executive sessions
since 1999. He served as non-executive chairman of Delta from August 1997 to
October 1999. He is a former CEO of Western Airlines and Burlington Northern
railroad, and a former non-executive chairman of Agilent Technologies.
John F. (Jack) Smith, Jr., has been elected the presiding director of
Delta's Board, and he will assume the position of non-executive chairman of
Delta effective at the company's Annual Meeting in April of 2004. He is a former
chairman and chief executive officer of General Motors Corporation and a member
of Delta's Board since 2000.
Mullin's decision follows discussions he initiated with the Board of
Directors earlier this year regarding his desire to retire. After careful
consideration of all alternatives, Mullin and the Board finalized the succession
plans and date of retirement at a Board meeting on Nov. 23.
The Board is confident that the combination of Grinstein and Smith has the
proven corporate leadership experience and in-depth understanding of Delta to
complete the critical transformation of Delta into a successful competitor in
the evolving airline environment.
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Smith said, "The Board of Directors is grateful to Leo Mullin for his
strong, vigorous and effective leadership and dedication to Delta Air Lines.
Immediately after joining Delta, he and the senior management team renewed the
company's spirit, restored its focus on customer service and rebuilt its
financial standing. Since Sept. 11, 2001, Leo has led the company and the
industry through the most difficult years in aviation history.
"Thanks to Leo's leadership, the efforts of the management team and the
hard work of all the people at Delta, the company today has a strong position
from which to move forward, including an extensive global network through
important partnerships like SkyTeam, a leadership position in deployment of RJ
aircraft, a renewed commitment to customer service, and a clear focus on
reducing costs. Those are notable achievements.
"The Board accepted Leo's decision to retire with regret. Jerry Grinstein
and I look forward to working closely with him through this transition."
Grinstein said, "Leo has my thanks for his highly effective leadership of
Delta through difficult times. But as Leo has often expressed, there is more
work to do. As a first priority in this new position, we will meet and talk with
Delta people in order to hear their ideas and enlist them as partners in
building our future.
"I took this job because Delta is a company with great traditions,
wonderful people and a legacy of success. We will build on those strengths as we
transform our company and compete successfully in our new world. It is a great
honor to have this opportunity to work with the Delta management team and all
Delta people."
"Our job is to make Delta competitive and consistently profitable. To do
that, we must further reduce Delta's costs substantially and permanently. That
is an unshakable imperative if Delta is to be competitive in an industry
adapting to the economics of low-cost carriers and restructured hub-and-spoke
airlines. Delta people have made important progress in the difficult task of
reducing costs, but we must get to where we can compete profitably in the new
cost reality of our industry.
"Our efforts to reduce costs will not change Delta's long-standing focus
on customer service. Delta people are the best in the business. They know how to
serve customers well. Management's job is to help them do that job. By working
together we can strengthen our company, serve our customers and then prosper and
grow.
"We are fortunate to have Jack Smith as non-executive chairman. He will be
part of the team immediately, then formally assume his new role in April. Jack
is a savvy, proven executive who will help guide us through these tough times.
Grinstein said he will move to Atlanta soon. He will be in Atlanta and
around the Delta system frequently in the next several weeks before joining the
company full-time in January 2004.
In announcing his decision to retire, Mullin, 60, said, "I made this
deeply personal decision to retire after a great deal of thought and reflection.
I have a warm regard for this
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company and its people. Delta and the industry have undergone enormous
transformations during my years as CEO. I am proud of what Delta people have
accomplished in that time and where the company stands today.
"Delta is at a transition point between the good work of the past and the
hard tasks ahead. This is a good time for me to move on to new challenges. There
is vital work to do, and Delta has the strategy and the talent throughout the
company it needs to succeed.
"The Board's appointment of Jerry Grinstein and Jack Smith to lead Delta
is the right decision. Jerry and Jack each have led major companies in fiercely
competitive industries in difficult times. They know Delta's strengths,
competitive challenges and its people well. Delta is fortunate to have these
two, tested leaders ready to step into these top leadership roles at this time."
Grinstein, 71, has been a Delta director since 1987. He served as Delta's
non-executive chairman from August 1997 until October 1999. He has extensive,
direct airline experience, serving as president and chief operating officer of
Western Airlines from 1984 through 1985 and as CEO of Western from 1985 through
March 1987, when Western was merged with Delta.
He joined Burlington Northern, Inc., in 1987 as vice chairman and became
president and CEO of Burlington Northern in 1989. He was chairman and CEO of the
company from 1991 until Burlington Northern's merger with the Santa Fe
Corporation. He was chairman of the merged railroads until December 1995.
He was non-executive chairman of Agilent Technologies from 1999 through
2002. He serves on the Board of Directors of PACCAR, Inc., Vans, Inc., and The
Brinks Company.
Smith, 65, served as CEO of General Motors from 1992 through 2000. He was
chairman of the General Motors Board of Directors from 1996 through April 2003.
He joined General Motors in 196l. Smith serves as chairman of the joint Advisory
Board of AlixPartners LLC and Questor Partners Fund. He also is a member of the
Board of Directors of Proctor & Gamble Co. and Swiss Re.
Mullin will receive a retirement benefit based on his participation in
Delta's broad based-pension plan and on his agreement with the Board of
Directors when he came to Delta in 1997. In addition to his actual Delta
service, the agreement included credit for 22 years of service, which reflected
pension benefits Mullin relinquished when he left his previous employer to join
Delta. His total earned retirement benefit is valued at approximately $16
million, pre-tax, most of which was previously funded and disclosed.
As CEO of Delta, Grinstein will receive an annual salary of $500,000. As
non-executive chairman of the Board, Smith will receive an annual retainer of
$200,000, in addition to other director fees.
Delta Air Lines, the world's second largest airline in terms of passengers
carried and the leading U.S. carrier across the Atlantic, offers 6,408 flights
each day to 457 destinations
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in 82 countries on Delta, Song, Delta Shuttle, Delta Connection and Delta's
worldwide partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline
alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights
and services. For more information, please visit delta.com.
Statements in this news release that are not historical facts, including
statements regarding Delta's beliefs, expectations, intentions or strategies,
may be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements involve a number of
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from the beliefs, expectations, intentions and strategies reflected in or
suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, the effects of terrorist attacks, military
conflicts, the state of the domestic and international economy, demand for air
travel, the availability and cost of aircraft fuel, competitive factors in the
airline industry and the outcome of negotiations on collective bargaining
agreements and other labor issues. Additional information concerning risks and
uncertainties that could cause differences between actual results and
forward-looking statements is contained in Delta's Securities and Exchange
Commission filings, including its Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2002 and
Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 to its Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed
with the Commission on Oct. 14, 2003. Caution should be taken not to place undue
reliance on Delta's forward-looking statements, which represent Delta's views
only as of Nov. 24, 2003, and which Delta has no current intention to update.
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