Mar 30, 2007
ATLANTA, March 30, 2007– Delta Air Lines today announced that 10 individuals have been selected to serve, along with Delta Chief Executive Officer Gerald Grinstein, on a newly constituted board of directors when the company emerges from Chapter 11. The chairman of the board will be Daniel A. Carp, continuing Delta's current governance practice of having a non-Delta executive as chairman of the board of directors.
Under the terms of the Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the new board of directors will consist of 11 members, including Delta’s Chief Executive Officer. Delta and The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors agreed that the Committee, in consultation with Delta, would select the other 10 members of the post-emergence board.
Proposed Board of Directors
If the Plan of Reorganization is confirmed by the court, the new board of directors will take office on the effective date of the Plan. The following 10 outside directors will join Grinstein on the new board:
Richard H. Anderson is an Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, where he has worked for the past four years, and President of its Commercial Services Group. Prior to joining UnitedHealth, Mr. Anderson was Chief Executive Officer of Northwest Airlines. He currently serves as a director of Cargill Inc. and Medtronic Inc.
John S. Brinzo is Chairman of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., where he previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President. For more than 20 years, Mr. Brinzo held various positions of increasing responsibility at Cleveland-Cliffs. He currently serves as a director of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., AK Steel Holding Corporation, Alpha Natural Resources Inc. and Brink’s Company.
Daniel A. Carp was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Eastman Kodak Company from 2001 until his retirement in 2005. For more than 30 years, Mr. Carp held various positions of increasing responsibility at Eastman Kodak. He currently serves as a director of Liz Claiborne Inc., Norfolk Southern Corporation and Texas Instruments Inc.
Eugene I. Davis is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pirinate Consulting Group, LLC. Prior to founding Pirinate Consulting, he was President of Emerson Radio Corp. and Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sport Supply Group Inc. Mr. Davis is a director of several corporations, including American Commercial Lines, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Knology Inc., PRG-Schultz International Inc. and Silicon Graphics Inc.
Richard K. Goeltz was Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of American Express Company from 1996 until his retirement in 2000. He also held senior leadership positions at National Westminster Bancorp, Inc. and Seagram Company. Mr. Goeltz currently is a director of Aviva PLC, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., New Germany Fund and Warnaco Group Inc.
David R. Goode was Chairman of the Board of Norfolk Southern Corporation from 1992 until his retirement in 2006, and an executive officer of that company since 1985. He has been a director of Delta since 1999. Mr. Goode is also a director of Caterpillar Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. He is a member of The Business Council.
Victor L. Lund was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Stores Company for seven years through its merger with Albertson’s in 1999. Following the merger, Mr. Lund served as a Vice Chairman of the Board of Albertson’s until 2002. Mr. Lund is also a director of Borders Group Inc., Del Monte (USA), DemandTec Inc., NCR Corporation and Service Corporation International.
Walter Massey is President of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to joining Morehouse, Dr. Massey has held teaching and directorship positions at institutions of higher learning and science foundations across the United States, including the University of Chicago, Brown University, The National Science Foundation and the University of California. He is a director of Bank of America Corporation, BP PLC and McDonald’s Corporation. Dr. Massey is also a director of the Commonwealth Fund, University of Chicago and the Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Paula Rosput Reynolds is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Safeco Corporation. Prior to joining Safeco, she was chairman, president and chief executive officer of AGL Resources. Ms. Rosput Reynolds has been a director of Delta since August 2004. She is also a director of Safeco Corporation and Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.
Kenneth B. Woodrow was Vice Chairman of Target Corporation until his retirement in December 2000. He also served as that company’s President from 1994 until 1999 and held other management positions in that company from 1971 until 1994. Mr. Woodrow has been a director of Delta since 2004. He is a director of EZ Gard Industries Inc. and Visteon Corporation. Mr. Woodrow also serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Hamline University.
“We’re pleased to welcome this new board to Delta,” said Gerald Grinstein, Delta’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are fortunate to have such a distinguished group of individuals serving on our Board. They represent some of the finest leaders in the business community today, possessing a broad range of talents and expertise and the highest level of commitment to integrity and ethics. We appreciate their interest in serving on our board and we look forward to benefiting from their guidance as Delta enters into a new and prosperous chapter in its history.
“I’d also like to thank Delta’s current board of directors for their service to Delta. Their contribution was critical to Delta’s transformation, guiding us from bankruptcy to our emergence as a strong and dynamic company. The dedication, judgment and expertise of these individuals was critical to that process and I’m sure that I join all of Delta’s other stakeholders in expressing gratitude for their tireless efforts,” continued Grinstein.
Delta Air Lines (Other OTC: DALRQ) offers customers service to more destinations than any global airline with Delta and Delta Connection carrier service to 308 destinations in 52 countries. With more than 60 new international routes added in the last year, Delta is America’s fastest growing international airline and is a leader across the Atlantic with flights to 31 trans-Atlantic destinations. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers more than 600 weekly flights to 58 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on more than 14,000 flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 458 worldwide destinations in 99 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes and check flight status at delta.com.
Statements in this news release that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections or strategies for the future, may be “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections and strategies reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our ability to prosecute, confirm and consummate our proposed plan of reorganization with respect to the Chapter 11 proceedings; the actions and decisions of our creditors and other third parties with interests in our Chapter 11 proceedings; our ability to obtain court approval with respect to motions in the Chapter 11 proceedings prosecuted from time to time; our ability to obtain and maintain normal terms with vendors and service providers; our ability to maintain contracts that are critical to our operations; risks associated with third parties seeking and obtaining court approval to terminate or shorten the exclusivity period for us to propose and confirm one or more plans of reorganization, to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee or to convert the cases to Chapter 7 cases; the cost of aircraft fuel; the impact that our indebtedness will have on our financial and operating activities and our ability to incur additional debt; the restrictions that financial covenants in our financing agreements will have on our financial and business operations; labor issues; interruptions or disruptions in service at one of our hub airports; our increasing dependence on technology in our operations; our ability to retain management and key employees; restructurings by competitors; the effects of terrorist attacks; and competitive conditions in the airline industry.
Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties that could cause differences between actual results and forward-looking statements is contained in Delta’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006, filed on March 2, 2007.
Current holders of Delta’s equity will not receive any distributions under Delta’s proposed Plan of Reorganization. These equity interests would be cancelled upon the effectiveness of the proposed Plan of Reorganization. Accordingly, we urge that caution be exercised with respect to investments in Delta’s existing equity securities and any of Delta’s liabilities and other securities. Investors and other interested parties can obtain information about Delta’s Chapter 11 filing on the Internet at delta.com/restructure. Court filings, claims information and our proposed Plan of Reorganization are available at deltadocket.com. Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on Delta’s forward-looking statements, which represent Delta’s views only as of March 30, 2007, and which Delta has no current intention to update.
None of the statements in this press release is a solicitation of votes for or against any plan of reorganization. Any such solicitation will only be made through a disclosure statement approved by the Bankruptcy Court pursuant to section 1125 of the Bankruptcy Code.
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Didier Marlier is the former Associate Professor at Insead (France) and Fundação Dom Cabral (Brazil), TED speaker, Managing partner of the Enablers Network and Co-Author of best selling business book 'Engaging Leadership'.
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