Delta announces executive shake-up
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines has announced a major shuffle across the top of its executive ranks underneath CEO Ed Bastian.
In internal employee memos Thursday morning, Bastian announced Chief Operating Officer John Laughter will retire next month and Chief Marketing Officer Alicia Tillman is departing the company.
Beginning in April, about half a dozen top roles will change as a result.
“Importantly, these changes demonstrate Delta’s deep bench of talent and commitment to developing and elevating the leaders who will shape Delta’s journey for years to come,” Bastian wrote to employees Thursday.
Bastian, who has helmed Delta for about a decade, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year he’s “not going anywhere anytime soon. I’ll be around for a little while longer.”
Chief External Affairs Officer Peter Carter will be promoted to company president to replace the recently retired Glen Hauenstein. Carter will retain much of his portfolio that includes managing global policy and legal matters.
Delta Chief Financial Officer Dan Janki is moving over to the COO role, managing its airport customer service, flight operations and other customer-facing divisions.
Chief Customer Experience Officer Erik Snell, meanwhile, will become CFO. He is returning to the finance team where he started his Delta career, but bringing “a comprehensive understanding of Delta’s operations and frontline employees,” Bastian said.
Delta’s top marketing executive, Tillman, who joined the airline in 2023, will be replaced by the senior vice president of customer experience design, Ranjan Goswami. Tillman is leaving to “pursue broader leadership opportunities outside of Delta,” Bastian wrote.
Goswami will take on a new chief marketing and product officer role.
Outgoing COO Laughter’s job as president of Delta TechOps will not be replaced in the new organization.
The company’s president of international, Alain Bellemare, will become chairman of TechOps, and current TechOps Senior Vice President David Thompson will continue running the company’s fast-growing maintenance division.
The news comes after the company announced Chief Information Officer Rahul Samant would also retire this month and be replaced by outside hire Amala Duggirala as chief digital and technology officer.
In last summer’s interview, Bastian noted he thinks often about whom his successor might be.
“We’ve got different people with different views, different opportunities; I’m not going to talk about any names at all,” he said.
“But when the board decides it’s ready for a change, the board will have some great internal talent.”
About the Author
As a business reporter, Emma Hurt leads coverage of the Atlanta airport, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Norfolk Southern and other travel and logistics companies. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she worked as an editor and Atlanta reporter for Axios, a politics reporter for WABE News and a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
