Unions respect Delta's new boss

MINNEAPOLIS — Incoming Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson is a friendly and approachable leader whose easygoing manner often masks a shrewd and cunning lawyer's mind, say Northwest Airlines workers and former associates of the one-time Texas prosecutor.

Anderson, 52, oversaw the heavily unionized Minnesota-based carrier from 2001 to 2004, a tumultuous period that pitted rank-and-file workers against management during a series of cost-cutting initiatives.

Union leaders at Northwest give Anderson high marks for his "open-door" policy toward organized labor, but point out that he departed in 2004 before the worst of the bloodletting at the carrier, which was carried out by his successor, Doug Steenland.

"We had our issues with Richard, but overall we did OK with him," said Ted Ludwig, president of Local 33 of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association.

"If we felt we had a concern we could not get resolved at the lower levels, he would always listen. He might not agree with us, but he would listen and seemed to empathize with you and he really seemed like he tried to put himself in your shoes."

The Delta board this week named Anderson the Atlanta airline's next CEO over two internal candidates who were favored by outgoing Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein. Anderson was most recently an executive vice president at UnitedHealth Group here, but before that spent 14 years with Northwest, including a four-year stint as CEO of the troubled airline.

At Delta, Anderson will face far fewer union issues — Delta has only one major union, for pilots. But he also arrives at a time when morale has only recently recovered from years of painful survival moves, and one of his challenges will be to maintain the momentum.

Danny Campbell led the local Northwest flight attendants' union during Anderson's time as CEO and had frequent face-to-face meeting with him.

"Richard went out of his way to resolve a lot of issues with us," Campbell said. "He is a cunning lawyer and a brilliant strategist."

Campbell said he found Anderson "not threatened" by organized labor and willing to discuss solutions to the thorniest problems faced by Northwest workers. At his core, however, Anderson was a tough-as-nails lawyer, Campbell said, possibly owing to the native Texan's early career as a prosecutor in his home state.

"He operated from the premise, 'Put it in writing and we see what we can do,' " Campbell said. "He seems to embrace the process of solving problems."

Campbell believes he and Anderson could meet again professionally. Campbell now lives in Michigan and works as an organizer for the national flight attendants' association, which has long had its eye on organizing at Delta. A 2001 drive failed.

"My question for Richard is whether he is going to perpetuate the incredibly hostile union sentiment at that company [Delta]," Campbell said.

Kevin Griffin, current president of the local Northwest flight attendants' union, described Anderson as an up-front manager who got high marks from workers for keeping them informed if bad news loomed.

"If there was something coming down, you didn't find out about it on the five o'clock news," Griffin said.

Griffin, Campbell and Ludwig all said Northwest employees they know initially applauded news of Anderson's move to Delta because they believe it means a merger of the two airlines becomes a greater possibility. Some Wall Street analysts have said the same thing.

Anderson has attempted to douse speculation, saying a merger is not on his short-term agenda.

"Here in our office, it was like, 'Oh man, that's good news,"' Ludwig said. "Everybody around here thinks Delta and Northwest will merge and Richard will be the new leader."

Griffin said most Northwest workers he knows do not buy Anderson's initial attempts to play down the possibility of a joining of the two carriers.

"The more they deny it, the more real it appears," Griffin said.

Jim Tharpe writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.