High Flying Lawyer

Richard H. Anderson is literally a high flying lawyer being the chief executive officer and member of the board of Directors of Delta Airlines. With all the legal and safety concerns relating to running an airline nowadays it seems t make sense to have a lawyer head an airline company than a former pilot.

Anderson was born in Galveston, Texas in 1957 and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law. He was in law practice then entered the airline industry in 1987 serving as deputy general counsel for Continental Airlines.  Then Anderson has a 14 year stint at Northwest Airline where he rose to become the CEO from 2001 to 2004. He then worked at UnitedHealth’s Commercial Markets Group holding the positions of executive vice president and president.

In September 2007 he became the new CEO of Delta. Anderson has initiated many changes at Delta to keep the company relevant given the competition and the every rising cost of aviation fuel.  The company also has partnership tie-ups such as its trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia and other arrangements with other airline companies.

Anderson’s stature goes beyond Delta; he is currently the chairman of the Airlines for America Board of Directors and has been elected to become the chairman of the International Airline Transport Association Board of Governors effective June 2013.

He’s a lawyer who is flying high.