about how cows eat cabbage, why dont you go play with your kids? This is a recent athletic pursuit by Mr. Bastain, having put his running shoes on only a few years ago back in 2014. ADI IGNATIUS: Im always interested in the path that people take to the C-suite, to the CEO role. And in fact, the policy evolved. Ive been there and you miss more time with the family then then you get. And the White House is involved, as you mentioned. Edward Russell. We just need to get back together and the airlines are going to be a big part of bringing the world together. Archers fans were puzzled this week when Birmingham TV star Jasper Carrott (pictured), 77, appeared on the soap as pensioner 'Sykesey' - as they thought he sounded like Vince Casey. WebEd Bastian is married. Ed Bastian devotes lot of time to the Delta family and as this is a long planned vacation with family and the meeting is last Minute meeting. Awards and recognition. Our brand is strong. Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. When you think about the bigger question about retaining and recruiting, weve hired 9,000 people over the course of the last year. He went to work for accounting firm Price Waterhouse in New York. glad he took that vaca. Thank you for recognizing that. Im sure one of them maybe could have fit this into their agenda !? Kudos for a top exec really showing work life balance. Not half marathons but full marathons, all 26 miles. [10] A father of 4,[11] he splits his time between Atlanta, where Delta Air Lines is headquartered, and Florida.[12]. However, over the course of the next couple of weeks, certainly by the second week in January, things are pretty much back to normal here at Delta. He deserves 1 week away with his family. You do the math, but it begs the question of where he finds the time or energy. And we got their big award for that because of data analytics and the intelligence that our people have at their fingertips to make good decisions for people and provide great quality operations. And it may not be the pandemic, it may be something else, but that feels like the era were in. 4. We have seen time and time again how he will say one thing in a meeting and then completely change his mind once senior WH staff who actually care/have a viewpoint on the issue at large get in front of him themselves or by sneaking materials that push their agenda on the issue into his briefing documents or by going/getting someone to go on Fox News to do the same. We worked through it. ED BASTIAN: First and foremost, its always difficult to decide that. The question I have is about impact. Clearly you have no family. Will miss the @united #globalfirstlounge at #ord. Family and down time is critically important for everyone. The air filtration systems are the highest quality. Its not even a credible excuse. Weve vaccinated people. The company uses a BCI-based approach in its products and services. Drew Holt and Talli Gay scrambled for flights on other airlines to get everyone to South Carolina for their Friday wedding. As you know, we did engage on voter rights legislation in Georgia. Candid conversations on talent, tech, and the future of business. His first reaction was Ed missed the meeting bc he dont like me (She officially has been listed at 12 years old.) Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta Air Lines, has lead his company through the disruptions of the past two years, having to adapt to a seemingly endless series of dire, UGAs Jalen Carter charged with reckless driving and street racing, Deltas rising CEO inherits big profits, big issues, Deltas next man up aims for upside, New Delta CEOs goal: keep company fresh, UGA star Jalen Carter present at scene of fatal crash, Breaking: UGAs Jalen Carter charged with reckless driving and street racing, Kemp administration deals blow to Buckhead cityhood push, Former Atlanta fire chief says God brought slaves to America to save them, Georgia Senate panel passes bill to expand ability to challenge voters. Working his way up to the position of Senior Vice President at Delta back in 2000, he and the company were facing very difficult financial times. And so he did. So one guy didnt show up so he throws the baby out with the bath water. And there is still another point that if I were Bastian, it would have caused me to avoid this meeting like the plague For him to make an apeearance at a meeting to complain about Qatar Airlines owning 49% of air Italy and how the subsidies that the Qatari government is providing to Qatar airways and, in turn, to Air Italy is costing Americans jobs all while Delta Airlines owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic (a U.K. company), 49% of Grupo Aeromexico (a Mexican owned company) as well as 8.8% of AirFrance-KLM (a French-Dutch company) probably would not have been too great of an idea. Why does it matter how much money he spent on a vacation? The specific talking point is the wall being constructed along the U.S.-Mexico border. Family comes first. You can decide for yourself after reading these 10 not-so-obvious facts about him. Staffing all in the right places. Doing the things primarily out of staying out of the news is pure cowardice. That accounting education and the work experience that would follow prepared him for one of the most difficult decisions he would make in his corporate life. She has covered airlines for about 20 years, graduated from Harvard and has a master's degree from Northwestern. And if youre going to be a true servant-leader, you come back and you serve, which is what we asked our people to do. It really needs to be a support center to the people out in the business that are making it happen out in the field. Through Rally, Bastian got to know Rally Kid Grace, an inspiring high school freshman and Paralympic athlete, who was battling osteosarcoma the same cancer Eds younger brother battled as a child. And it was the first time they named that, and they named Delta in 2021. One thing that we did, Adi, is throughout the pandemic weve encouraged testing. Instead, he says it is practical and helps speed his way to work by being able to use the HOV lane for almost the entire trip to the airport. I have no issue with him passing on the last-minute meeting. Youre a lawyer, yes? And this is something I was going to ask as well, which is the rollout of 5G thats coming. Its a huge deterrence to travel. My assumption when I read the headline was that it was either too expensive to change his plans, or an expensive result happened due to not changing his plans (such as damage to reputation. He drives a Tesla to work. It might have also been the reason he decided to go into accounting when he went to college at St. Bonaventure University instead of playing baseball. In 2004, he left based on what he calls strategic differences between himself and the company. Internationally it is largely a requirement, to get into many countries around the world, you need to be vaccinated, including our country. And we do not have a substitute source to use for propulsion for our aircraft. The couple shared the exclusive photos with HELLO! And Im fortunate enough now to be a CEO for six years. A lot of people back in the skies for the first time. We give them tests. 3. This may make it seem as if he has adopted a competitive lifestyle, but actually the marathon was the result of a bet he made with his Delta employees. We are as isolated and distant from each other that I can ever recall. Im not going to impugn the motives of Delta CEO Ed Bastian. But there is simply no denying how incredibly costly his recent family vacation turned out to be. Bastian took some some heat ( and not just from me) for refusing to modify his travel plans to meet with President Trump and other airline CEOs in the White House. How are we going to get through this and what its going to take to ensure that we bring our people with us. I will fly Delta more often knowing he made the right decision and put family first. And one of the early indicators that we saw in the middle of December, as our people started to come down with Omicron, was we are hearing conflicting messages. Family first. Maybe we should compare vacation time taken between Ed & Trump.. Trumps interest is with the Middle East, not this country. People need to get to where they need to go for medical reasons, for health reasons, for job, etc. I dont know how widespread it is, but we all see videos of air personnel being abused by patients who arent happy with mask requirements or whatever. > Read More: Dense, Dimwitted Logic From A Deliberately Deceptive Delta CEO Thank you! But there is another angle to this. He shouldnt be allowed to take even a day off until he can get his company in a full, upright position again!! My esteem of Delta just went up! So theres a full playbook and, just like the auto industry, is going to take us several decades before we get there, but we follow what happened in the autos, and theyve been on a 20-year journey of electrification and using clean transportation. How has the use of data analytics helped Delta stay ahead of the curve in the industry? Nathan, I didnt fault him for taking the vacation. He is known to go against the grain, even in executive corporate venues. I think Matthew also points out the possible issues with the excuse given and honestly we will never know if this was a legitimate excuse or a ploy to garner sympathy for skipping a meeting he found distasteful and a probably waste of time given the likely outcome. Perhaps Trump still would have decided against the U.S. carrier had Bastian been there. He left Delta and came back. What has it been like to try to guide a business through all this? As a result of that, we took a pretty big hit, because we saw it happen within our own workforce very, very quickly. And is there a digital strategy that aims to focus at the customer experience and direct sales as well? Its never more important to be visible and let people know what you know and what you dont know. He did the right thing. Jees, if you were going for DB of the Year then, good news, youre in the lead. Can you offer some general lessons about how to lead successfully during a crisis? Delta CEO.got em and lives by em! Family comes first lord have mercy. Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen -, One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure, Next stop ARN! Rhebway I see it, and while sevral airline executives did attend, this was not an airline led meeting. Thats fair, but as someone who owns a company, you should also know that there are times when being present at an in-person meeting might run counter to your own objectives. He recently has made his differences with President Trump public. Theyre not moving around. ADI IGNATIUS: Because what you do is so visible, we all feel we know the brand. Delta did end up finally became profitable in New York for the first time in its history, after expanding its presence against large operations run by American, JetBlue, United and other carriers. For the money he is paid sacrifices must be made; considering the 85,000 employees and pension funds that his every move affects. As it turns out it seems there were people who saw that Bastain was right, and upon his return the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Yeah, there are certainly cases that are well documented of air rage, and all the airlines that have had them. ADI IGNATIUS: Ed, I want to thank you for being on the show. Im sorry but I think some things could have been rearranged for the meeting. And they need to have that fully vetted and fully tested. Everyone on that is wearing a mask. And so we asked the question to the CDC, because we were having thousands and thousands of our people that we were having to pull out of the operation in a very disruptive manner and isolate when the science didnt seem to suggest that that was necessary. As you mentioned, were a very visible industry. Edward Ed Bastian of Delta Air Lines is one of the more interesting people in the world of corporate CEOs, likely because he has an interesting character that can be seen in the boardroom and out on the boardwalk.