Richard H. Anderson (born May 2, 1955) is a retired American lawyer and business executive. In his early career, he served as a prosecutor and corporate attorney, before moving into executive positions. His most prominent roles were as CEO of several large companies in the transportation industry:

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines (often abbreviated as NWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 until it Delta Air Lines–Northwest Airlines merger, merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010. The merger made Delta the largest airline ...

(2001–2004),

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

(2007–2016), and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

(2017–2020).

Early life and education

Anderson was born in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

, to Hale Anderson, an office worker for the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

, and Frances Anderson, a medical receptionist. His family, which also included five sisters, moved to Dallas and later

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...

. His parents died of cancer when Richard was 20 years old. Anderson attended

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

and the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, graduating from the latter in 1977 with a degree in political science. He earned a J.D. degree in 1982 from the

South Texas College of Law South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 1923 when the YMCA made the decision to establish a law school with a focus on offering night classes for working professi ...

before working as a

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

for the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

office of

Harris County, Texas Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 4,731,145, and was estimated to be 5,009,302 in 2024, making it the List of counties in Texas, most populous cou ...

Career

Anderson entered the aviation industry after accepting a legal position at

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...

and served as the airline's representative during the investigation of Continental Airlines Flight 1713 in 1987. Anderson, who had never considered a career in the aviation industry, accepted the position at the urging of Ben Hirst, a neighbor who worked at Continental as a legal counsel. Hirst and Anderson left Continental for

in 1990, with the latter serving as a deputy general counsel for the airline. At Northwest, Anderson was initially charged with labor relations and government affairs. Despite having no experience in airline operations, he was named senior vice president of technical operations and airport affairs. Anderson was promoted to CEO of Northwest Airlines in June 2001 after the departure of John Dasburg. Anderson served as chief executive officer of

from 2001 to 2004,

Executive Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of United Healthcare from 2004 to 2007, and as CEO of

from 2007 to 2016, which would later merge with Northwest. In 2010, during his tenure at Delta, Anderson led an anti-union campaign against the

Association of Flight Attendants The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (commonly known as AFA) is a union representing flight attendants in the United States. As of January 2018, AFA represents 50,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines. Since 2004, AFA has been part of the C ...

, calling the labor union "un-Christian" and "immoral." On February 3, 2016, Delta Air Lines announced Anderson would retire as CEO effective May 2, 2016, and assume position as Executive Chairman of the Delta Air Lines

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

. On October 11, 2016, Anderson announced his retirement from the Board of Directors effective on the same day. He was succeeded by former chairman and CEO of

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., often referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportat ...

, Francis Blake. In June 2017,

announced Anderson as the organization's next President and CEO, replacing Charles "Wick" Moorman. Anderson assumed the title of President on July 12, 2017. Anderson also assumed the role of co-CEO on that date, serving alongside Moorman. Anderson remained co-CEO with Moorman until the end of 2017, at which time he assumed the role of sole CEO. On March 2, 2020, it was announced that Anderson would step down as CEO on April 15, 2020, after fulfilling his three-year commitment to the company. He remained with Amtrak through the end of the year as a senior advisor to his replacement, William J. Flynn. In May 2024, Anderson joined the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

board.

Awards and honors

Anderson was named

Aviation Week ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', often abbreviated ''Aviation Week'' or ''AW&ST'', is the flagship magazine of the Aviation Week Network, a division of Informa. The weekly magazine is available in print and online, reporting on the aeros ...

's Person of the Year for 2015.''

'' (December 18, 2015).
Aviation Week Names Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson Person of the Year
, press release via ''

PR Newswire PR Newswire is a distributor of press releases headquartered in Chicago. The service was created in 1954 to allow companies to electronically send press releases to news organizations, using teleprinters at first. The founder, Herbert Muschel, ...

''. In 2013, he was the recipient of the

Tony Jannus Award The Tony Jannus Award recognizes outstanding individual achievement in scheduled commercial aviation by airline executives, inventors and manufacturers, and government leaders. The award is conferred annually by the Tony Jannus Distinguished Avia ...

for distinguished achievement in commercial air transportation.

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Richard H. 1955 births American airline chief executives 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American railroad executives American railroaders Amtrak presidents Delta Air Lines people Living people Northwest Airlines People from Galveston, Texas South Texas College of Law alumni University of Houston–Clear Lake alumni

Early life and education

Career

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links