Delta team to lead Northwest Airlines after acquisition

ATLANTA: Delta Air Lines Inc announced on Tuesday its plans for the composition of its senior leadership team after it acquires Northwest Airlines Corp later this year.

The Atlanta-based carrier said it expects the transition of Northwest's operations into Delta to last 12 to 24 months. As previously announced, Delta Chief Executive Richard Anderson will lead the combined airline.

Delta said Tuesday that Delta's president and chief financial officer, Ed Bastian, will remain in that position. Bastian will also be the chief executive and president of Northwest until Delta completely integrates its operations with Northwest.

Northwest's current chief, Doug Steenland, plans to leave the company's executive ranks when the combination is completed, but will serve on Delta's board, officials previously said.

Mike Becker, senior vice president of human resources and labor relations at Northwest, has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer for Northwest's operations during the transition. His role after that has not been announced.

Mike Campbell, executive vice president of human resources, labor and communications at Delta, will stay in that role, while Steve Gorman, executive vice president of operations at Delta, and Glen Hauenstein, executive vice president of revenue and network, will remain in their roles.

Ben Hirst, Northwest's general counsel, will assume the role of general counsel at Delta. Laura Liu, senior vice president of international at Northwest, will have the role of senior vice president of international for Delta. Theresa Wise, senior vice president and chief information officer at Northwest, will be chief information officer for Delta.

Upon closing of the deal, NWA Inc will be an operating subsidiary of Delta. Each of the officers of the new NWA structure will be officers of both NWA and Delta upon closing.

Delta will remain based in Atlanta. The stock-swap deal, which would create the world's largest carrier by traffic, was announced April 14. It is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

Delta hopes to complete the acquisition by the end of this year. Steenland told Northwest employees in a message Tuesday that "the new team represents a true blending of the talent of both companies."

He said Northwest would "function separately" during the transition period after the close of the deal. After that, he said the new Delta would keep "a significant ongoing operational and staff presence in Minnesota."