Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm
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Speaker 1: Eastern only on Bloomberg Radio. So ed, So much going
Speaker 1: on in the world. Let's start on the sort of
Speaker 1: geopolitical geo economic front, the trade war. Are you seeing
Speaker 1: any blowback through your business from that? Not in a
Speaker 1: material way. We're seeing some effects, particularly in Asia. Uh,
Speaker 1: they tend to be more around our big corporate customers,
Speaker 1: automotive manufacturing that that are not seeing the same type
Speaker 1: of demand for their products, so they're pulling back some
Speaker 1: of their spend and travel patterns. But Asia for us
Speaker 1: is one of the smaller regions than our total revenue
Speaker 1: pie and uh, we're not We're not seeing a white
Speaker 1: We're watching it hopefully, but we're not seeing a major
Speaker 1: a major decline. And so on a week like this
Speaker 1: when you see yet another geopolitical issue in the Middle East,
Speaker 1: obviously disruption in the oil market, how does that play through,
Speaker 1: if at all, for you in terms of your fuel costs,
Speaker 1: in terms of your hedging strategies, any elements that are
Speaker 1: sort of popping up there, Well, it's a reminder of
Speaker 1: how volatile the business climate, the environment in which we operate.
Speaker 1: That said, you know, we're already seeing fuel prices start
Speaker 1: to moderate, you know, after the spike over the weekend.
Speaker 1: We've built our business to be sustainable at much higher
Speaker 1: fuel prices than sixty five dollars print, which is worths
Speaker 1: trading today. So we're on the front end of that
Speaker 1: h anticipating what we might face in terms of future
Speaker 1: future challenges. But from a revenue durability standpoint of balance
Speaker 1: sheet perspective, we think we're pretty well situated. So let's
Speaker 1: talk about your investors. You know, you have won a
Speaker 1: lot of plot. It's from your customers and there's some
Speaker 1: investors who are very much on board, and by certain
Speaker 1: measures the stock has done very well, but by other
Speaker 1: measures that it feels a little bit stagnant. Uh dare
Speaker 1: I say it? Uh? What's the street missing? Well, I
Speaker 1: think it's is. It's a proven story. You know, our
Speaker 1: largest investor, Warren Buffett, he owns eleven percent of Delta.
Speaker 1: I think he has a great line is about our industry.
Speaker 1: We were like the Chicago Cubs of the of the
Speaker 1: business world. You know, we didn't have a bad decade.
Speaker 1: We had a bad century, and we're we're on a different,
Speaker 1: different platform now. We've you know, the last ten years,
Speaker 1: we've really invested in the fundamentals of running a great
Speaker 1: airline with reliability and performance and service levels unseen in
Speaker 1: Delta's history and candidly within the industry as a whole,
Speaker 1: in terms of scale. That's been been rewarded by our
Speaker 1: customers with customer satisfaction scores and brand loyalty and preference
Speaker 1: at levels we've never seen before, which we're taking back
Speaker 1: and continuing to reinvest in the customers, reinvest in our
Speaker 1: airports and our technologies, while at the same time generating
Speaker 1: you know, meaningful free cash flow. I think that's the
Speaker 1: other thing the investors historically have not seen from the airlines.
Speaker 1: While the airlines may have performed at certain periods of time.
Speaker 1: They also spent back what they what they made on
Speaker 1: on labor, on technology, on on capital and and fleet.
Speaker 1: We're doing that, but we're also returning a meaningful amount.
Speaker 1: So this year, Delta we expect to make over five
Speaker 1: billion dollars for the fifth year in a row in
Speaker 1: terms of profits, but we'll also have free cash flow
Speaker 1: delivery this year of over four billion dollars. And so
Speaker 1: I think that that performance and that consistency of performance
Speaker 1: over time is rewarding. And I do think that that
Speaker 1: investors will will stay with us and and hopefully see
Speaker 1: see improvements in the p So there has been a
Speaker 1: bit of a divergence. It feels like across the global
Speaker 1: airline industry. You feel like it feels like you're you're
Speaker 1: one of the have so that there may be some
Speaker 1: have nods out there. Are we going to see some
Speaker 1: more consolidation and will you participate in that? I don't
Speaker 1: think you'll see consolidation in a meaningful way in the US.
Speaker 1: You may see it in in it's made other other
Speaker 1: parts of the of the airline market not necessarily participating
Speaker 1: relative to Delta. Internationally, I do think you'll see Uh, Europe,
Speaker 1: you're already seeing it. You're seeing bankruptcies in Europe in
Speaker 1: terms of some of the European carriers. I think you'll
Speaker 1: continue to see some consolidation trends there. Uh So on
Speaker 1: the on the global scene, that's where we've been investing.
Speaker 1: We've invested in a number of our partners and really
Speaker 1: not consolidation. It's more to have influence within within our
Speaker 1: our global network of carriers. Uh you'll see more of
Speaker 1: that from Delta potentially, but I don't think on the
Speaker 1: US side you'll see and what do those partnerships tend
Speaker 1: to look like now and what might they look like
Speaker 1: in the future, either geographically or are there new and
Speaker 1: different things that that you can try to sort of
Speaker 1: create that that family as it were. Sure, Well, you know,
Speaker 1: one of the things I think that has not been
Speaker 1: successful in the airline world are the alliances. You know,
Speaker 1: we we am self critical SkyTeam Alliance. I don't think
Speaker 1: we've we've brought a lot of great I too, customers.
Speaker 1: I don't think we've brought a lot of great value
Speaker 1: to our member airlines. And we're going at this thing
Speaker 1: in a very different approach. We're going at it through
Speaker 1: Delta making bilateral investments in the most important partners. We
Speaker 1: own forty nine percent of Virgin Atlantic. We own forty
Speaker 1: in Mexico, the two closest carriers to us on either
Speaker 1: side of of the country. We're invested in Air France KLM.
Speaker 1: We've invested in Korean, We've invested in Shahna Eastern, We've
Speaker 1: invested in gold Down in Brazil. And as a as
Speaker 1: a consequence, what you see is you see this network
Speaker 1: of influence that we're having within those companies. So those
Speaker 1: companies want to know what what Delta has learned about
Speaker 1: operational efficiency and prowess and in premium. We want to
Speaker 1: learn what it takes to win in those local markets.
Speaker 1: And then over time, while we can't own them in
Speaker 1: terms of whole owned consolidation, we can have meaningful enough
Speaker 1: investment that we create an international network of carriers that
Speaker 1: will be uniquely tied where you have Delta as as
Speaker 1: the center p That's that's our goal. And when you
Speaker 1: think about the long term, UH to think of Delta today,
Speaker 1: we serve two hundred million customers a year. Right, if
Speaker 1: you add the customers from all those carriers I just mentioned,
Speaker 1: you're up to over five million customers a year that
Speaker 1: we serve. There's never been an airline network and an
Speaker 1: air airline, you know, combination. You forget consolidation that delivers
Speaker 1: that kind of value across geographies. We have an opportunity
Speaker 1: to create that. And so do you have people knocking
Speaker 1: on your door at this point saying, yeah, why don't
Speaker 1: you come over and uh spriakles having that magic tuk on.
Speaker 1: There's there's there's there's a lot of a lot of
Speaker 1: questions going on and conversations at all times. And you know,
Speaker 1: we answer, we answer every knock that that cars. Some
Speaker 1: we answer some way. Some we say no, we can't,
Speaker 1: we can't do that. But there's there's a there's there's
Speaker 1: there's a strategy here that's unique within the industry. The
Speaker 1: other groups are not doing that, and I think it's
Speaker 1: going to be an advantage for Delta. So let's talk
Speaker 1: about your customers, both business and consumer. And you talked
Speaker 1: a little bit about it. I don't want to put
Speaker 1: word to your mouth like a little bit of weakness
Speaker 1: maybe from a business perspective, from the global or from
Speaker 1: the Asian market overall. Um generally, businesses, it feels like
Speaker 1: are a little bit cautious right now globally, maybe for
Speaker 1: geopolitical reasons. We certainly hear that through earnings reports from
Speaker 1: from big companies. What do you see from your business customers?
Speaker 1: I see a healthy U S. Consumer. We know the
Speaker 1: US consumer drive the U S economy, and the consumer
Speaker 1: demand is very, very healthy in the U S. We
Speaker 1: just finished the busiest summer in our history by a
Speaker 1: meaningful amount. Revenues this year are up seven percent year
Speaker 1: on year, which they were up also the year prior.
Speaker 1: We are with within the Fortune one d We are
Speaker 1: in the top quartile of growth companies within the Fortune one.
Speaker 1: We've been there the last couple of years. People don't
Speaker 1: expect Delta to be seen at that level of growth.
Speaker 1: We're seen as a mature company. I think we're seeing
Speaker 1: We're seeing a lot of growth in travel and the
Speaker 1: preference to the Delta brand, specifically within the travel spaces
Speaker 1: growing at unprecedented levels. Uh. Summer you know was great.
Speaker 1: The Ford look on the holidays look strong. Uh. We
Speaker 1: don't have a crystal ball that goes out what's beyond
Speaker 1: the book and curve of our customers, but we watch,
Speaker 1: we watch all the t leaves. We see what's happening
Speaker 1: in retail. We see what's happening, and you know, the
Speaker 1: other sectors of the economy, corporate corporate demands still very
Speaker 1: strong again. You had some pockets around around automotive and manufacturing,
Speaker 1: some of the industrial segments. There's some weakness that are
Speaker 1: affected by the geopolitical climate. But broadly speaking, financial services UH,
Speaker 1: service based UM industrials or companies rather are are are
Speaker 1: providing a lot of growth, and we're seeing we're seeing
Speaker 1: meaningful growth in those segments as well. What worries you
Speaker 1: for the consumer right now as you look around, You know,
Speaker 1: the thing I worry most about is that everyone gets
Speaker 1: obsessed with wondering when the next recession is going occurring.
Speaker 1: We talk ourselves into Yeah, honestly, I do because because
Speaker 1: it's about consumer confidence right and um, the consumers are
Speaker 1: doing well. Unemployments at record low levels. I think people
Speaker 1: are are are seeing a lot of opportunity in the marketplace.
Speaker 1: We got a new economy. You've got winners and losers
Speaker 1: that are being created at a faster pace than ever before.
Speaker 1: So that disruptive entent and I think we know the
Speaker 1: you know, we all have to understand what's what's happening
Speaker 1: within that, But the consumers are getting great value air
Speaker 1: fas ADULTA one of the reasons we're growing as an
Speaker 1: industry's fast air fas are down in real dollars over
Speaker 1: the last twenty years, and so you think about that,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's it's remarkable. And every year they
Speaker 1: go they declined by another one to two points. And
Speaker 1: so that's another reason why the travel industry is booming
Speaker 1: the way it is. So take me inside the plane.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm a loyal Delta customer. I've been for
Speaker 1: for many years. I've grown up in Atlanta. I've seen,
Speaker 1: you know, pretty massive change, especially over the last few
Speaker 1: years in your plane and and just sort of the services.
Speaker 1: What what do you feel like as you look back
Speaker 1: over the past couple oterations, what's really worked? What hasn't
Speaker 1: worked in terms of things that sumers especially is said, Okay,
Speaker 1: I really like that, do more of that. Well, the
Speaker 1: biggest thing that's worked is A is the core reliability
Speaker 1: of of of the product. You know, we are we
Speaker 1: have set a much higher set of consumer expectations of
Speaker 1: Delta than ever before. Our on time reliability, our cancelation
Speaker 1: rates are are are as well. We've we've got a
Speaker 1: goal to cancel cancelations because we know that's probably the
Speaker 1: biggest stress point for consumers. And we're we're well on
Speaker 1: our way. This past year, fifty days of the year,
Speaker 1: we did not have a cancelation worldwide. Um So, so
Speaker 1: we're raising the bar. And when you have that platform
Speaker 1: of strength up there, then it gives you the opportunity
Speaker 1: and to to get more more adventurous, you know, to
Speaker 1: whether it's in where we fly, how we fly, our
Speaker 1: technology are digital innovation that we're bringing. Uh. We hear
Speaker 1: great things about the fly Delta app and it's working
Speaker 1: because more customers than ever before are booking on Delta.
Speaker 1: Almost fifty of our US travel is book direct on Delta.
Speaker 1: Just just five years ago that number was less than
Speaker 1: half of that. So that tells you that we've got
Speaker 1: a lot of trust, we've got a lot of preference,
Speaker 1: we've got a personalized service that people want to see.
Speaker 1: Um there's certainly things that we're experimenting with catering and meals,
Speaker 1: and I think everybody's got their views. Some things work,
Speaker 1: some things don't. We we you know, one of the
Speaker 1: things we've we've introduced over last year as pre ordered
Speaker 1: feel meals and your chance to go in and select
Speaker 1: your entree and and hopefully it'll it'll taste as good
Speaker 1: as it looks on the on that screen. So when
Speaker 1: you think about, you know, sort of the moment we're
Speaker 1: in in twenty nineteen, it feels like we're also thinking
Speaker 1: about consumption and sustainability and all of our personal and
Speaker 1: sort of corporate carbon footprints. For for lack of better term,
Speaker 1: what do you see happening in the short term, in
Speaker 1: the mid term when it comes to your industry in
Speaker 1: terms of new planes, new designs, and and how do
Speaker 1: you get your arms around that, both from a buying
Speaker 1: perspective and a CAPEX perspective. I well, sustainability is is.
Speaker 1: I think that's one of the existential threats to our industry.
Speaker 1: If we don't get out in front of that, we're
Speaker 1: doing much more in that realm than we give ourselves
Speaker 1: credit as an industry and as Delta specifically. You're gonna
Speaker 1: hear us talk and hear me specifically talk more and
Speaker 1: more about that because I think our consumers need to
Speaker 1: hear that. Uh, it's bigger issue today in Europe, but
Speaker 1: it's it's coming here to the U S as well.
Speaker 1: You know, one thing we did on the sustainability level,
Speaker 1: Jason as we froze our carbon footprint in two thousand
Speaker 1: and twelve and said all growth from that point forward
Speaker 1: was going to be carbon neutral. And we've done that.
Speaker 1: We have grown this airline since two thousand and twelve
Speaker 1: without increasing our carbon footprint at all. Now that that's
Speaker 1: that's a great statement. There's more to be done in
Speaker 1: that regard. Long term, we want to reduce our overall
Speaker 1: footprint by but we had to stop to stop the growth.
Speaker 1: Ways we're doing it is exactly what you said, uh,
Speaker 1: New new engine technology, new airplanes that are lighter and
Speaker 1: are more composite based. Every plane that we put in
Speaker 1: the service is more fuel efficient than the planes we
Speaker 1: take out, and fuel is nine percent of our footprint
Speaker 1: is jet fuel. We're investing in biofuels at at at
Speaker 1: a heightened pace. We are the only airline that owns
Speaker 1: its own refinery, so we have we have some energy
Speaker 1: technology and expertise within the space. We announced just the
Speaker 1: other day, you know, in the Pacific Northwest recycling venture
Speaker 1: that we're working on where we take forest debris and
Speaker 1: try to bring the rosin and and and manufacturing process
Speaker 1: to produce biofuel, which we think, if works could could
Speaker 1: generate up to ten percent of our jet fuel needs
Speaker 1: on the West Coast using biofuels, you know, which are
Speaker 1: today very uneconomical to to to operate within. We're investing
Speaker 1: in in elimination of single plastics aboard our our aircraft,
Speaker 1: in our lounges. We've got the electrification of our ground
Speaker 1: service equipment and many airports that we're working, and so
Speaker 1: there's there's a lot we're doing. And then on top
Speaker 1: of that, we're also purchasing carbon offsets to the extent
Speaker 1: that we're not off setting enough through the through organ
Speaker 1: It means we're going out and buying and investing and
Speaker 1: sustainable renewables in other parts. And by the way, our
Speaker 1: our customers can also join us on the journey. Every
Speaker 1: customer to the extent that they want to offset their
Speaker 1: personal footprint can go on our website as they purchase
Speaker 1: a ticket and see what their footprint is and what
Speaker 1: it would cost to offset it, and we'll we'll make
Speaker 1: it well, you know, we'll pass that contribution along to
Speaker 1: h to offset for the individual customers. But but I
Speaker 1: think that there's more that needs to be done. It's
Speaker 1: it's it's a it's it's an issue for uh employees.
Speaker 1: You know, employees want to work for for not just
Speaker 1: a great company, but a great company that does great things.
Speaker 1: And this is an issue for the future. And if
Speaker 1: we're going to grow, we have to grow sustainably. And
Speaker 1: we can't grow sustainably if we're depleting the resources of
Speaker 1: our planet. Well, let's talk a little bit about your employees.
Speaker 1: You're down there in Atlanta, robust growing market. How hard
Speaker 1: is it for you to sort of get the people
Speaker 1: you need sort of across the board. At this point,
Speaker 1: we're we're having great success. Our hiring brand has never
Speaker 1: been stronger. We just announced a couple of weeks ago
Speaker 1: that we're hiring a thousand flight attendants, you know, to
Speaker 1: come into Delta over the next few months. We had
Speaker 1: over a hundred thousand applicants for those one thousand positions
Speaker 1: just in two weeks. Uh, so it's almost too much. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, pilots, we're hiring pilots. UH, getting you again,
Speaker 1: you know, ten to twenty x the number of applicants
Speaker 1: qualified applicants to the actual individuals. This year, we'll hire
Speaker 1: somewhere between five and seven thousand people in all walks
Speaker 1: around Delta, whether it's pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, airport agents, technologist,
Speaker 1: knowledge workers. We're a growing company. We're growing our top
Speaker 1: line by seven percent, and we need to continue to
Speaker 1: expand our skills to be able to support that growth.
Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about your job. What's
Speaker 1: the what's sort of the biggest thing on your plate
Speaker 1: right now when you think about sort of long term
Speaker 1: strategy as you parse out a day or a week,
Speaker 1: what are you spending maybe a disproportionate amount of your
Speaker 1: time thinking about I always spend it to a portion
Speaker 1: of many times spending about thinking about our people. Our
Speaker 1: people are the key to everything we do. Uh. If
Speaker 1: I'm found to be self critical of the company fifteen
Speaker 1: years ago when we were in in the bankruptcy process
Speaker 1: in a very difficult time, it's because the company lost
Speaker 1: its relationship loss it's it's it's it's means the meaning
Speaker 1: of what that service meant and the values and the
Speaker 1: special the special advantage that we have having the great
Speaker 1: Delta team that we have on the property. So whether
Speaker 1: it's makes sure we're hiring the very best. You know,
Speaker 1: we hire not just for for aptitude, but we hire
Speaker 1: for attitude and and and and what it means in
Speaker 1: terms of having a heart for service, keeping them engaged,
Speaker 1: keeping us with us on the journey. I'm speaking in
Speaker 1: all all foreigns, whether it's in a galley of of
Speaker 1: an aircraft, sitting and coach on board the plane, in
Speaker 1: the cockpit, in the airport's town hall meetings. So there
Speaker 1: there's there's a lot of my energy. And by the way,
Speaker 1: you know, using video and using all kinds of social
Speaker 1: media tools to connect to our people. I want our
Speaker 1: people to to to think and hear from me what
Speaker 1: I think, and I'm I'm not afraid to kind of
Speaker 1: think out loud and let people know what what's coming
Speaker 1: down the road and and the excitement that that that
Speaker 1: I sense, and what we can do as a team
Speaker 1: to continue to win that We've We've got an employee
Speaker 1: base that that you know is very transitory. You know,
Speaker 1: they don't show up most of them in an office.
Speaker 1: You gotta go out and find them. And that's why
Speaker 1: I travel so much, because I'm out finding them. And
Speaker 1: was there an AHA moment for you in this job
Speaker 1: where you realized, Okay, I've got I've got to dedicate
Speaker 1: more more time to this. Was there an interaction, was
Speaker 1: there something where it just clicked on, or was this
Speaker 1: something that you set out to do from the beginning.
Speaker 1: I think this is something unknown for easily a decade
Speaker 1: or more. Again, when when you go through a near
Speaker 1: death experience like we did in the bankruptcy, and you see,
Speaker 1: you know kind of the challenges we we had, we
Speaker 1: had in places taken fifty pay cuts, losing benefits, losing pensions,
Speaker 1: you really heart wrenching family decisions that we're being forced
Speaker 1: based on our economic arrest. The thing that I promised
Speaker 1: our employees is that when we are profitable, first of all,
Speaker 1: we're gonna share the returns of that. So fifteen percent
Speaker 1: of our profits to this day go back to our employees.
Speaker 1: And this year we'll we'll we'll have over one point
Speaker 1: five billion dollars that will be distributing to our employees
Speaker 1: on Valentine's Day. But even more importantly like that, they
Speaker 1: need to see see a very visible leader. They need
Speaker 1: they need to understand the leadership. They need to have
Speaker 1: that relationship because they're out in the front lines and
Speaker 1: customers every single day in the public eye, and they
Speaker 1: need to know that their management team has their back,
Speaker 1: that their CEO is going to stand with them, you
Speaker 1: know what, whatever challenge that they have we're faced, and
Speaker 1: they're they're always going to be rewarded for doing the
Speaker 1: right thing by a customer. Well, and speaking of that visibility,
Speaker 1: it feels like someone in a job like yours, more
Speaker 1: is expected in terms of social issues. You face some
Speaker 1: of that down in Georgia and in Atlanta. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: increasingly CEOs are being called on to sort of take
Speaker 1: a stand. What do you make of that? I think
Speaker 1: it's uh, it's inevitable, all right. I think when you
Speaker 1: have some of the dysfunction that's going on in society today,
Speaker 1: when you when you look at you know, the the
Speaker 1: what public views in terms of politicians, you know, it's
Speaker 1: kind of a record lows in terms of credibility and
Speaker 1: the divisiveness that sits in our political systems without without
Speaker 1: kind of pointing fingers that anyone. By the way, it's
Speaker 1: not just in the U S. It's it's worldwide. Um.
Speaker 1: It's interesting corporate leaders have actually risen in in in
Speaker 1: people looking to corporate leaders to speak into that leadership vacuum.
Speaker 1: I think you hear politicians, at least certainly privately, telling
Speaker 1: us corporate America, you need you need to lead, you
Speaker 1: need to you need to speak, you need to kind
Speaker 1: of show the way. And those of us that lead
Speaker 1: large organizations Delta eighty thousand people worldwide, that that's a
Speaker 1: big that's a big army of people that that that
Speaker 1: I'm speaking to. I think you have to be careful
Speaker 1: as to what topics you speak to. You have to
Speaker 1: know the values of your company, not the values of
Speaker 1: your person, for the values of your company, as to
Speaker 1: what's relevant. I'm not looking to be a social activist.
Speaker 1: I'm not looking to change the world. I'm looking to
Speaker 1: improve Delta and stand by that Delta's values. But if
Speaker 1: you see something in the world that runs counter to
Speaker 1: what we believe in and what our mission is, I
Speaker 1: think we're required to speak. And the other thing that
Speaker 1: technology and social media has done, it's eliminated the response.
Speaker 1: Done right. You don't have time to go back and say,
Speaker 1: let's let's have a huddle on this topic. Let's let's
Speaker 1: call the board and take a pulse. Um if you
Speaker 1: you know, because you're you're measured by speed as well
Speaker 1: as your decision, and and and and so it's challenging,
Speaker 1: you know as a CEO. You know, growing up, I
Speaker 1: was always trained to to not be in that position.
Speaker 1: You don't want to antagonize anyone. You want all people
Speaker 1: of any of any persuasion to love Delta. Unfortunately, the
Speaker 1: world's the world's a little more complicated. And how do
Speaker 1: you think about the brand? You know, I mean, I
Speaker 1: think about that this is a brand that has moved
Speaker 1: more and more into the public, not politically, but just more.
Speaker 1: I mean, I believe even that the New Bachelor is
Speaker 1: the Delta pilot. I mean, so, like, how do you
Speaker 1: sort of uh sort of get your arms around all
Speaker 1: the different ways that it may manifest itself in real time? Well, well,
Speaker 1: you have to embrace it. You got you got to
Speaker 1: recognize the world's changing um again, whether it's it's it's technology,
Speaker 1: social media, entertainment. You know, we we are a brand
Speaker 1: that's out in the consumer rise. You know, we we
Speaker 1: live in the world. You know, We're not a brand
Speaker 1: that and you're sitting in the back of the plane,
Speaker 1: you're hearing it. I'm getting I'm getting it every day. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and so when you're out in the world and
Speaker 1: you're experiencing the world and your brand that flies. We're
Speaker 1: not sitting on some store shell. We're sitting with people. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, you have to be dynamic, you have to
Speaker 1: embrace it, and you have to go with them. By
Speaker 1: the way, you're not always going to get it right,
Speaker 1: which you always have a chance to correct it right.
Speaker 1: All right. Just want to ask you a couple of
Speaker 1: more questions that sort of about sort of the the way
Speaker 1: you work and and sort of the way you view
Speaker 1: the company and yourself as you look around the industry.
Speaker 1: Who's a competitor that that you admire? I think southwester
Speaker 1: is done a fabulous job. You know, they've been very
Speaker 1: true to their mission. They've they've been very diligent ank
Speaker 1: on this and they've gone over forty years without losing money,
Speaker 1: which is hard in this business. And I admire their
Speaker 1: execution and their discipline and their focus on their on
Speaker 1: their on their purpose. All right. So, what's the best
Speaker 1: advice a mentor or a boss or or a friend
Speaker 1: has given you that you sort of take to heart
Speaker 1: as you go about doing your job. Well, there's there's
Speaker 1: been a lot of advice people if I said to
Speaker 1: this day. Every day I get to get advice. I
Speaker 1: think one of the one of the things that has
Speaker 1: always resonated with me around leadership is that you know,
Speaker 1: you need to look at the people you surround yourself with,
Speaker 1: both in business in life. Uh. You know, the crowd
Speaker 1: you keep is going to be largely dictatory where you're
Speaker 1: going in terms of your trajectory. If you want to
Speaker 1: lead people, make sure you have people around you that
Speaker 1: are bigger than you, They're stronger than you're they're better
Speaker 1: than you that you're not afraid of, that you can
Speaker 1: learn from, and you kind of kind of kind of look, look,
Speaker 1: look to put yourself in position for success for your
Speaker 1: team and the people you're with. And I tell you
Speaker 1: I would not have been nearly as successful in my
Speaker 1: career if I didn't have some great people you'll buy
Speaker 1: my side, pulling me along. And you've got to You've
Speaker 1: got to lean into that. You've got to look for
Speaker 1: those people in your life. Biggest mistake or sort of
Speaker 1: darkest moment in the past five ten years in your job,
Speaker 1: clear of the darkest moments. When we filed for bankruptcy,
Speaker 1: I was I was in the courtroom in New York
Speaker 1: here and uh, and you talk about a public admission
Speaker 1: of failure. There's not a more humbling experience than that.
Speaker 1: And honestly, once you go through something like that, all
Speaker 1: other failure is relative. Right. It's like, and then you
Speaker 1: failed to to to get better. You don't, you don't,
Speaker 1: you don't. You don't fear as much because already you've
Speaker 1: already acknowledged that. And I think that's one of the
Speaker 1: things that that we've been successful. We've had a courage
Speaker 1: about us. Yeah, if you weren't doing this job, what
Speaker 1: would you be doing anything anything out in the in
Speaker 1: the world. I'd be a professional baseball player. Really, I'd
Speaker 1: love to do. Why is that That's what I wanted
Speaker 1: to do as a kid. Yeah, I love I love baseball.
Speaker 1: I grew up in New York and I was I
Speaker 1: was a Yankees fan. That I wasn't great, I wasn't
Speaker 1: a good hitter. Kind of made it to high school
Speaker 1: and that was about it. But I I just I
Speaker 1: just love, love love baseball. As you know, America's pastime.
Speaker 1: I'm glad to see it's more in oversurgence you have
Speaker 1: think you're seeing you're seeing people people talk more about baseball,
Speaker 1: uh these days. But I got a pretty smart, pretty
Speaker 1: prominent place that a Yankee stadium. I believe Delta does right.
Speaker 1: There's down at sun Trust as well, or there is
Speaker 1: you know, we we do we do it sun Trust
Speaker 1: and you know it's it's kind of Delta in both
Speaker 1: those parks. Single biggest thing you're excited about for the
Speaker 1: company looking ahead five tenures. I am so excited what
Speaker 1: we're doing with our ground experience in our airports. We're
Speaker 1: building a new airport at Laguardy. It's desperately needed, building
Speaker 1: a new airport at l I think any New York
Speaker 1: are listening or watching this right now, can we'll hardly
Speaker 1: agree with you on that. We're going to complete the
Speaker 1: build at JFK that we have. We're going to We're
Speaker 1: building a brand new airport Salta City. We're building a
Speaker 1: new international terminal in Seattle, and the and the terminals
Speaker 1: that we're building are going to be for the future,
Speaker 1: not for the past. So you know, using technology and
Speaker 1: looking forward. You know, the airport infrastructure we have today
Speaker 1: was built for the nineteen sixties. You know, the crowds
Speaker 1: of security apparatus, it's all backwards, you know, we need
Speaker 1: we need space by our gates for have people to
Speaker 1: have a more comfortable boarding experience. You know, in the
Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, you didn't stop, you know, you didn't worry
Speaker 1: about getting to the gate because you were in the
Speaker 1: lobby and you could do good board. Security wasn't wasn't
Speaker 1: an issue. You could board, you know at the last minute. Well,
Speaker 1: the first the opening door to an airport. These days,
Speaker 1: you know, as really as your security and people don't
Speaker 1: stop in the headhouse. But yet all real estate is
Speaker 1: centered there. So we've got to flip them around. Uh,
Speaker 1: using technology to enhance the effectiveness and the efficiency of
Speaker 1: security in that whole line. You know, the boarding process,
Speaker 1: you know, getting customers to believe that with r F
Speaker 1: i D technology, you know, your bags will be there
Speaker 1: for you when when you arrive. Everyone doesn't need to
Speaker 1: to arrive with all their bags and make the onboard
Speaker 1: process as as difficult as it can be at times. Um,
Speaker 1: But our team does a great job. You know, we're
Speaker 1: anticipating customer needs. The other thing I'm really excited by,
Speaker 1: you know, beyond the next five ten years is the
Speaker 1: international you know, we have a great opportunity as to
Speaker 1: talk about all the seeds we're planting, the investments in
Speaker 1: our international partners. It's going to take time to harvest
Speaker 1: and take time to learn, and take time to to
Speaker 1: to really root itself. But over the next decade and beyond,
Speaker 1: you know, Delta is going to be a great international airline.
Speaker 1: We're a great US airline, now I want to be
Speaker 1: a great international airline. I think we have the opportunity
Speaker 1: to be that deerline for our US based consumers. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Bloomberg Business Week. You can subscribe to
Speaker 1: the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot com. You
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