Delta Air Lines has created a new chief information security officer position, with former bank executive Deborah Wheeler stepping into the role Monday.
Wheeler was most recently chief information security officer at Freddie Mac, and also had the title at Ally Financial and Fifth Third Bank.
Atlanta-based Delta said adding a chief information security officer “will bolster Delta’s strong cyber security position and is part of the airline’s broader IT effort to grow Delta into a global IT leader.”
Delta's broader IT efforts also include addressing vulnerabilities that led to two system outages over the last six months. An outage in late January led to about 280 flight cancellations, while a much worse failure of computer equipment led to 2,300 flight cancellations last August.
Wheeler will report to Delta’s chief information officer Rahul Samant, who has been at Delta since February 2016.
According to Delta, Wheeler’s focus will be on leading “Delta’s efforts to secure and protect information that is important to Delta and protect our customers, while continuing to ensure the overall cyber resiliency of the airline.”
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