Wednesday, August 22, 2007

FIRST

Okay, so "The Garlington Report" was the first to call the Delta CEO announcement. That's a fact that a few have noticed.

For the record, however, we were factually incorrect on at least one specific: COO Whitehurst will not resign effective immediately. Timing is beside the point as conveyed to Fortune (go to http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/21/magazines/fortune/delta_boyle.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007082117.) Talent at that level rarely hangs around for scraps left after the power gets divvied up.

We could be wrong, but in this case, it's nearly impossible to see how a guy who made over a million dollars with Boston Consulting Group prior to joining Delta would hang around in an unclear position. Particularly after what he was able to accomplish. Listen quietly and you'll probably hear the buzz of recruiters ringing through on his BlackBerry.

High achievers want to achieve; it's not always about money. In fact, when you have that much money, it's about higher levels of success, which can include money but that's rarely the only measure.

Oh, and here's a weird nagging detail: They've given the CFO, Ed Bastian, the additional title of President while the "new guy" becomes CEO. Does that have precedence in major companies?

Someone needs to trace the relationship between Bastian and the head of the pilots union more closely. That may be more revealing than what the creditors' influence indicates.


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