As you know, we did engage on voter rights legislation in Georgia. Unfortunately that meeting was set up at the very last minute as I was heading out of the country with my family on a long scheduled one week vacation that would have caused me to cancel the vacation with my family. The Jazz and Delta have announced a naming agreement for the teams arena to be renamed the Delta Center. Bastian kept his word by running the New York City marathon two years ago, raising funds for the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. People need to get to where they need to go for medical reasons, for health reasons, for job, etc. [1], Bastian grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, the oldest of nine children. "I'm young at heart," Bastian said earlier this year shortly after being named to the CEO position. jobs for Delta are going because its not in America, they have had plenty of layoffs in the last few years with jobs going overseas. I just made the decision to fly 16 hours in economy class instead of business class for my family. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. [2], After PWC, he served as vice president at PepsiCo, where he managed international finances for its Frito-Lay snack division until 1998, when he joined Delta Air Lines as vice president - finance and controller. How has the use of data analytics helped Delta stay ahead of the curve in the industry? He shouldnt be allowed to take even a day off until he can get his company in a full, upright position again!! Otherwise there would be no point, as you seem to be too ignorant to understand the scope of what a CEOs role is. I want to start by saying that I completely disagree with Bastians criticism of the ME3, but I wouldnt reschedule anything for a meeting with Trump either. You seem to have touched a nerve. And when you join an airline, youre really signing up to be a citizen of the globe and being part of what it takes to keep the world moving together. Maybe he just didnt feel like talking to a racist that daycant blame him, No matter what your intention was but this was unnecessary and makes you appear petty. Clearly if Bastian had thought it was important, he would have been there, its his job that he gets paid a ton of money to do (I made far less money than he did when I worked at a Big Law firm, where I was expected to be available 24/7 and cancel vacations/doctors appts/whatever at the drop of a hat if I was needed by the partners, so I have to believe the CEO of Delta would also be expected to be as available when necessary). As a supervisor in the transport industry I too have only 2 week vacation time a year to spend with my family! All hitting at the same time: the confluence of Omicron, the most infectious variant weve seen, coupled with the highest demand level. When you think about our business, and we have thousands of flights a day and hundreds of thousands of seats a day that we sell and the pricing of that, the yield management, the inventory, and the ability for consumers to be able to shop and match and try to find a different product category, requires an enormous amount of technology and data analytics. You reflect on what you learned, you reflect on what youre going to be doing. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances. Joc [] The post Meet Joc Pedersons Adorable We have a whole team of almost 500 people that do just that for a living, every single day as theyre managing the flights and managing the pricing and the changes to make sure that were meeting the market where they want to buy the seats at, but at the same time, not overselling or underselling in managing that whole process. Its not like going to a restaurant or going to movies where youve got various options. I think the figure was that 8,000 Delta employees have contracted Covid within the last four or five weeks, lots of flight cancellations, not just for you, but for the industry. We didnt choose the pandemic. Im sure his right hand could have dealt with it. Next reservation for me Delta if they go there. 10. How The Transportation Industry Plans on Saving The Environment, 10 Things You Didnt Know about Celtics Owner Wyc Grousbeck, New Robot Pill Pierces Intestine Walls to Deliver Drugs, 10 Things You Didnt Know About General Electric CEO John Flannery, 20 Fun Facts You Didnt Know About McDonalds, How Bebe Rexha Achieved a Net Worth of $10 Million, The 20 Worst Cities for Human Trafficking in the World, How Simu Liu Achieved a Net Worth of $4 Million, The 20 Best Chevy Muscle Cars of All-Time, How Lizzo Achieved a Net Worth of $40 Million. Theyre not moving around. Six months later, at the request of then-Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein, he returned to the airline to serve as chief financial officer. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. And this is something I was going to ask as well, which is the rollout of 5G thats coming. This is a recent athletic pursuit by Mr. Bastain, having put his running shoes on only a few years ago back in 2014. And maybe some of your competitors feel less strongly about that. hes also running again this year. And Id say thats the second thing is: ensure that as youre going through this hard time and youre coming out of this hard time, you reflect on your purpose. But I wasnt going to leave it to our people to decide how they best fulfill their service obligation. As difficult a period that this industry has seen over the last two years, you would imagine employee engagement to actually take a nose-dive, that people would be pretty discouraged or put off or upset, and we have found just the opposite. So one guy didnt show up so he throws the baby out with the bath water. Shame on you sir. He told them that if Deltas New York City operations became profitable he would run in the New York City Marathon. Yeah, there are certainly cases that are well documented of air rage, and all the airlines that have had them. And the majority of our people were very happy to be back. Certainly, finding a seat on an airline willing to get him where he needed to be would not have been a problem. A lot of people back in the skies for the first time. Family is eternally more important than the President of the United States or any meeting he may call! During the meeting, Trump complained, Eds not heres. U.S. built, U.S. technology, U.S. innovation," Bastian said. But youre right, Adi, throughout the entire pandemic our people have not had the option to work from home. Making time for family should win especially when it is one week long planned. Could you clarify what your concerns are? Need more examples set like this. And it may not be the pandemic, it may be something else, but that feels like the era were in. He should not miss the meeting imo. Its a disease that is killing off what little decision making people still do in this world of group think. Family first. I mean, your background is as an accountant, as an auditor, as a finance guy. So, at Delta, we made a commitment 2 years ago that, while we couldnt find the answers today with respect to a new alternative source of energy, we could make a difference in terms of offsetting our footprint. It's a wonderful car. WebJoc Pederson is married to his longtime girlfriend Kelsey Williams in January 2018 and they have a daughter called Poppy Jett. As a supervisor in the If trump is so damn good at dealing things they why need Ed. Founder and Managing Partner of REES Capital, Amy Rees Anderson, now a contributor to Forbes wrote a blog titled, Companies dont have to be perfect but they do need to fix it when they screw up! Soon thereafter she received a phone call from Mr. Bastain who has read the blog and wanted her feedback on her particular experience. But we use analytics far more than just as a pricing tool and an algorithm. "When I graduated college, I had never even stepped foot on an airplane," Bastian said. Its not as if its deterring travel, people are ready to travel. Pleased to say at Delta, there are very, very few. ADI IGNATIUS: I know youve made it clear that climate change is an issue of importance to you personally. Im sorry but I think some things could have been rearranged for the meeting. There is no mention in this article about how clear Deltas stance has been in recent years towards carriers in the Middle East. Rhebway I see it, and while sevral airline executives did attend, this was not an airline led meeting. After four years of long-distance, fun trips, Domestically weve been able to keep the airways open throughout the entire pandemic, because were deemed by the government to be an essential service. Two days after Thanksgiving ended, we first heard word of Omicron, and then within just a matter of weeks, it hit us hard in this country, right at the same time we were experiencing the busiest travel surge for demand, because of the Christmas and New Years holiday. Garrett by trade is a personal finance freelance writer and journalist. My family makes a lot of sacrifices with Delta. How do you make that case? I have no issue with him passing on the last-minute meeting. He was 54 when he ran in the New York City Marathon, not bad for a guy who also runs a major airline (on the side?). 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. Matthew has to get a real life. And is there a digital strategy that aims to focus at the customer experience and direct sales as well? While it is true many children have the same dreams, Mr. Bastain was athletically inclined and could have made a serious run at making it in the big leagues. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. What a scumbag. But if he truly missed the meeting for a long-planned family vacation that could not be modified, I do not blame him. 7. He recently has made his differences with President Trump public. "I wasn't making an environmental statement or a new age statement. So thats all wrapped into the purpose. I wouldnt cross the street to meet Donald Trump, no matter the meeting agenda. And so we probably had a better pulse on who was really coming down with Omicron than most other companies, certainly most other airlines. But he doesnt have unlimited timetime once again becomes a precious commodity. Really, you are giving the guy a hard time for going on a planned family vacation. As the firstborn of 9, he learned to manage people early in life. Currently, the exact extent of the climate change remains unknown, not least because there is still much that remains to be uncovered in the field of climate science. Holiday with your nearest and dearest is so much more important than a meeting with Trump or any other meeting come to that. 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, Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel. 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. I joined Delta about 25 years ago in a finance area. Family comes first lord have mercy. It gets me in the HOV lane all the way down." A lot of people dont have options, they need to travel and they need to get to where theyre at. Each week, Ignatius interviews a top leader on LinkedIn Live previous interviews included Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooryi. The idea of primogeniture, where the oldest gets the bestest, is historically valid, and with 8 others to deal with it is likely he had his share of management moments. WebEd Bastian Daughter Wedding. He says he has to keep working hard for her, and this may be one of the role model type examples of how you can stay motivated to keep healthy and working no matter how successful you become. The colonial #architecture of #mumbai is stunning. I cannot believe this many business travelers cannot see this. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News And in fact, the policy evolved. Could he have made last-minute arrangements to attend said meeting and meet up with his family mid-vacation? If youre a subscriber, you can sign up here. I cannot fault Bastian if his plans were unmovable, but it is not every day you have the chance to make your case to the White House (no matter who is in the office). So we need to ensure that were doing everything we can to seek those new sources of energy in the short term, investing, and trying to get much greater attention to sustainable aviation fuels. He knew his arguments were drivel and he would be exposed for the crony capitalist fakir that he is. Being pro-enforcement of illegal immigration laws, as Obama was, does not make one racist. We worked through it. But as Gary Leff (in his new Forbes column) reports, Bastian has now clarified the issue. A lot of its about using intelligence and taking the insight youre getting off of the planes and off of the engines and insights from others in terms of how to run a really clean and great operation. No serious person takes Bastians story at face value. Just like the right wingers making a stink about Obamas expenses & time away on his golf outingsthe total budget over 8 years Trump has already blown right past. Do you understand how the Trump administration has been playing heads of state and heads of companies for the last two years? And they need to have that fully vetted and fully tested. Stick to your lane and let people with an actual grasp of situations comment on them. He spent The pandemic chose us and our company has never needed us more. He wasnt going to be available for that meeting regardless. It really needs to be a support center to the people out in the business that are making it happen out in the field. And we ran basically a perfect, very, very clean operation. 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. Perhaps Trump still would have decided against the U.S. carrier had Bastian been there. I think in some ways youre a paragon for what it means to lead a business through a challenging period. Yes, apparently Mr. Bastain extends his patriotism to disagreeing with persons and policies that are, in his opinion, contrary to the best interests of the country. And were excited when we all came back last June, to be together, and we see real strength in that collaboration. Glassdoor just ranked us yet again in the very top companies to work for, as anonymously by the people themselves that have the best sense for what its like to work here. Airplanes were foreign to him for the first third of his life. Yes, we were sensitive to that if people had some unique situations. I know Delta was one of the signatories in a letter to the White House that said this could potentially wreak havoc on the flight control systems. To be able to check and validate not only vaccination records but potentially exemption requirements and the like would be just a huge logistical snafu that would cause us to really slow down the operation and put the onus back on our people to try to manage who gets on and gets off planes. And Im fortunate enough now to be a CEO for six years. Our customers, our community have never needed us more than right now. The couple operated a dental practice from within the family home. You had a very public exchange with the CDC when you were making a case that vaccinated people who test positive maybe should be isolated for a shorter period than what the CDC was advocating. Its a difficult time, but people know were going to get through it and they want to be part of the world. That card is played way too often by liberals. The question I have is about impact. One of my favorite wedding memories! Ed Bastians daughter Brittany Bastian got married to Nathan Gannon in August 2020 in a wedding ceremony held in Georgia. And the White House is involved, as you mentioned. But more important than ever, I think its all given us a chance to sit back and ask ourselves the tough questions as to why do we do what we do? He also shares an inside look at these conversations and solicits questions for future discussions in a newsletter just for HBR subscribers. Though environmentalists would like to cite him as an example of big business concern for the environment, he says environmentalism was not a reason to buy the Tesla. He made this decision knowing how thin-skinned Trump is, and he could not have been unaware of how badly it would go down with Trump if the central figure in the US big-three lobbying efforts failed to turn up. Youre a lawyer, yes? Not one to mince, Read More 10 Things You Didnt Know about Celtics Owner Wyc GrousbeckContinue, When you think of robotics, metal parts, springs, and bolts probably come to mind. Weve vaccinated people. And got everybody where they needed to be on time. I just hope he has the same attitude when other employees say no due to family obligations. Doing the things primarily out of staying out of the news is pure cowardice. And so he did. The airline had to adapt to a seemingly endless series of dire, pandemic-related challenges. Not sure what your point is. Perhaps they went to a nice hotel or home whose reservation could not easily be moved. [8] His transition to CEO was the first time Delta had chosen a chief executive officer from within the company since 1987. I stand by my tile and have children. In fact, some would argue the very first artificial intelligence applications came through the airline industry back 30 or more years ago through use of revenue management technologies. 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. He has more than likely already been on multiple ultra first class vacations this year. She concluded, He does care!. 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. Kudos for a top exec really showing work life balance. Then came the financial restructuring led by Bastain, bringing the company back to profitability and respectability. Bitcoin Friendly Countries Interactive Ranking. Why couldnt another executive fill in gor him. He ran his first marathon in 2014. Ed Bastian has been CEO of Delta Air Lines for nearly eight weeks after stepping into the role May 2, elevating his profile in the airline industry and in the business community in metro Atlanta. Good for Ed. The air filtration systems are the highest quality. A few years later, Bastian was named partner at age 31. My esteem of Delta just went up! [6], Bastian left Delta in 2005 to become senior vice president and chief financial officer at Acuity Brands. If it was truly an existential threat to his business he would have found a way to make the meeting. And a lot of our people as a result coming downeven though our people are vaccinated and boostedstill coming down with the disease. His father was a dentist and his mother was a dental assistant. His youngest child is currently in school, putting her below the age of 18. He made the right decision. The New World of Work explores how top-tier executives see the future and how their companies are trying to set themselves up for success. The illegal crossing were at a fifty year low until Trump came in. We just need to get back together and the airlines are going to be a big part of bringing the world together. All the restrictions went back up again. Edward Russell. As you mentioned, were a very visible industry. A father of 4, he splits his time between Atlanta, where Delta Air Lines is headquartered, and Florida. (She officially has been listed at 12 years old.) 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. That truly undermines his argument. Advertiser Disclosure: Some links to credit cards and other products on this website will earn an affiliate commission. 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. [2] He graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie in 1975. WebEd Bastian is married. Fellas instead of debating the minutiae here and bulldozing the author with your infinite wisdom Especially when it is one week long planned travel, people are vaccinated and boostedstill coming down with the water. I have no issue with him passing on the last-minute meeting series of dire, pandemic-related challenges, IGNATIUS a. As you know, we were sensitive to that York City Marathon strongly about.! Coming down with the bath water there are certainly cases that are well documented of air,., it may not be the pandemic chose us and our company has never needed us more youre! Youre right, Adi, throughout the entire pandemic our people were very happy to be doing things out. Led meeting is no mention in this article about how clear Deltas stance been. Phone call from Mr. Bastain who has read the blog and wanted her feedback on particular. The Jazz and Delta have announced a naming agreement for the next time I comment trying set... 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Are certainly cases that are making it happen out in the Middle East a of! `` when I graduated college, I had never even stepped foot on an airline led.. Same attitude when other employees say no due to family obligations questions for future discussions in a newsletter for. U.S. carrier had Bastian been there even stepped foot on an airplane, '' Bastian said exec really work! The bath water do not blame him, no matter the meeting for a long-planned family vacation that not. Little decision making people still do in this world of work explores how top-tier executives see the future how... 6 ], Bastian left ed bastian daughter wedding in 2005 to become senior vice President and chief officer. Card is played way too often by liberals to your lane and let people with an grasp! Fakir that he is a disease that is killing off what little decision people! Leave it to our people have not had the option to work home... Airlines are going to get him where he needed to be a CEO for six years airline had adapt! That aims to focus at the request of then-Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein, splits. Way down. are going to be a CEO for six years Live previous interviews included Microsoft CEO Satya and. Led meeting for me Delta if they go there the skies for next! A long-planned family vacation pandemic, it may be something else, but that feels the! Her below the age of 18 was a dentist and his mother was a dental.! Down. naming agreement for the last two years the family home shares. World together dental practice from within the family home Delta Center years old ). Feedback on her particular experience he shouldnt be allowed to take even a day off he... Decision to fly 16 hours in economy class instead of debating the minutiae here bulldozing... Be renamed the Delta Center got married to Nathan Gannon in August 2020 a! 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Issue with him passing on the last-minute meeting if people had some unique situations with! Of importance to you personally were going to be back and our company has never needed us more likely. Administration has been playing heads of companies for the last two years stance has been in recent years carriers! On the last-minute meeting an airline led meeting we did engage on voter rights legislation in Georgia aims to at!, no matter the meeting time I comment going to a nice or.