Delta Air Lines on Friday said that Mike Spanos, its chief operating officer, will depart the airline for a new job at the end of August.
In a memo to staff viewed by TPG, airline CEO Ed Bastian said that Spanos had said earlier this summer that he was exploring another opportunity.
The departure comes just weeks after Delta canceled more than 7,000 flights amid a major technology outage that affected airlines across the world, including rivals American Airlines and United Airlines.
Unlike the other carriers, Delta struggled to get back on track after the outage was fixed and continued canceling flights for several days.
The airline said it used the affected system, CrowdStrike, in more of its internal systems and processes than the other carriers.
A Delta spokesperson said Spanos had begun discussing an exit prior to the July tech meltdown.
He had been in the role since 2023 and did not have previous aviation industry experience.
Delta does not plan to replace Spanos, Bastian said in Friday’s memo.
Chief operating officer Mike Spanos of Delta Air Lines announced on Friday that he will be leaving the company at the end of August to take a new position.
The airline CEO, Ed Bastian, stated in a staff memo that TPG was able to see that Spanos had stated earlier in the summer that he was looking into other opportunities.
Shortly after a significant technology failure that impacted airlines worldwide, including rivals American Airlines and United Airlines, Delta canceled over 7,000 flights. When the outage was resolved, Delta struggled to resume operations and kept canceling flights for several days, in contrast to the other carriers. The airline claimed to have utilized CrowdStrike, the impacted system, in more of its internal operations and systems than the other carriers.
According to a representative for Delta, Spanos had started talking about leaving before the July tech crisis. Despite lacking any prior aviation industry experience, he had been in the role since 2023. Spanos will be compensated under the airline’s officer and director severance plan, per a document that was submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday morning.
Although Spanos served as Delta’s head of operations, Bastian had previously informed The Wall Street Journal—the publication that broke the initial news of Spanos’ departure—that Spanos was not in charge of the company’s reaction to the outages.
In a Wall Street Journal interview earlier this month, Bastian stated, citing Spanos’ “newness to the industry,” that “he wasn’t the person that we were relying on to make the decisions.”. “. .
According to Bastian’s memo from Friday, Delta does not intend to replace Spanos. Instead, the CEO will receive direct reports from two senior leaders who previously answered to Spanos: Allison Ausband, the airline’s head of customer experience, and John Laughter, who is in charge of several operational departments like flights, maintenance, and pilot staffing.
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