Amtrak Names Airline Veteran As CEO

Amtrak has named Richard Anderson, a 25-year veteran of the aviation industry, as its next president and chief executive officer. Anderson was chief executive officer of both Delta and Northwest Airlines.

Anderson, 62, most recently was executive chairman of the Delta Air Lines board of directors after serving as the airline’s CEO from 2007 to 2016. He was executive vice president at United Healthcare from 2004 to 2007 and CEO of Northwest Airlines, which later merged with Delta, from 2001 to 2004. He also served in the legal division at Continental Airlines and was a former county prosecutor.

Joining the company July 12, Anderson will serve in a co-CEO capacity with current CEO Wick Moorman through Dec. 31, 2017.
“It is an honor to join Amtrak at a time when passenger rail service is growing in importance in America,” Anderson said. “Amtrak is a great company today, and I’m excited about using my experience and working with the board to make it even better. I’m passionate about building strong businesses that create the best travel experience possible for customers.”

“The board believes he is the right leader at the right time to drive the quality of customer service that our passengers, partners and stakeholders expect and deserve while continuing our path towards operational and financial excellence,” said Amtrak Chairman of the Board Tony Coscia.

Anderson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Houston at Clear Lake City and a Juris Doctorate at South Texas College of Law. He is a native of Galveston, TX, where his father worked for the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

Anderson was named Aviation Week’s Person of the Year in 2015. In 2014 he was recognized as one of the World’s Best CEOs by Barron’s magazine and he was ranked among the Top 25 Most Influential Industry Executives by Business Travel News. In 2013, he was recognized in Fortune magazine’s Top People in Business list.

Moorman joined Amtrak in September 2016 as a transitional CEO, tasked with improving the company’s operations, streamlining the organizational structure, and helping recruit his successor.