Leo Mullin and his top lieutenants are now gone, mostly, but who's left to take Gerald Grinstein's orders?
In two more developments Friday in Delta Air Lines' ongoing executive shuffle, the ailing airline confirmed that human resources chief Robert Colman is retiring June 1, essentially completing the deconstruction of Mullin's top echelon.
Delta also confirmed it has hired a replacement for finance chief M. Michele Burns, whose resignation was effective Friday. Michael J. Palumbo, who was on Grinstein's team when he ran Western Airlines in the late 1980s, becomes Delta's chief financial officer May 11.
More changes are coming, according to a memo Friday from Grinstein, who succeeded Mullin as CEO last winter.
"Work continues on naming the executive management team for our company," Grinstein said.
"Most of the people on the team will come from within Delta. An announcement regarding management will be coming in May. It has been important to take the time necessary to get the right people in the right place for this time at Delta."
Grinstein, who at 71 says he will be CEO for no more than two or three years, faces the challenge of rebuilding management and designing a succession plan in addition to saving the money-losing airline.
Delta has been without a No. 2 executive since Fred Reid bailed out as president and chief operating officer a month ago. His position gave him oversight of day-to-day operations.
Grinstein has said he probably won't name a new president, suggesting he will split those duties. In addition to the human resources post, there are other holes to fill as well.
In the past seven months, nine other high-level executives have left or said they're leaving by June.
They include Mullin, who stepped down as CEO at the end of last year, Reid, Burns, Colman - all recruited by Mullin after his 1997 arrival - and Terry Erskine, Delta's chief labor negotiator.
The lone remaining top-five executive is Vicki Escarra, a Delta careerist who is executive vice president-chief marketing officer.
Delta's executive exodus began several months after Mullin's team became embroiled in controversy last year over executive pay. The company disclosed that it spent millions of dollars on bonuses and bankruptcy-proof trusts to help retain its executive team in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001.
Meanwhile, the airline's financial condition has continued to wither because of weak fares, competition with discount carriers and stubbornly high costs.
Delta's negotiations to win deep pay concessions from its pilots, the highest-paid in the industry, are stalled.
"It's a tough situation," said Joe Goodwin, president of Goodwin Group, an Atlanta executive recruiting firm. "They've got some major-league issues, and they've lost their starting team."
Goodwin helped recruit Burns to be Atlanta-based energy firm Mirant's chief financial officer. He thinks Delta suffered a blow with her departure, and faces more trouble as its executive ranks thin.
"How do you go outside and recruit top people with all of the uncertainty?" he asked.
Still, a clean sweep of Delta's executive offices could be just what Grinstein had in mind, according to a corporate restructuring expert.
By building his own executive team from outside hires and people hand-picked from Delta's current management ranks, he gets a team that is loyal to his vision and carries less baggage from last year's executive pay scandal.
"A key part of making a change is changing your management group," said Benjamin Duster, a partner with Masson & Co., a corporate restructuring consultant.
The exodus of Delta executives "could be a positive," he said. Grinstein has apparently concluded that Delta has to change direction, and the previous team "is not the team that would get [him] there," said Duster.
Grinstein's stated approach to building his executive team contrasts with Mullin's strategy.
Grinstein, a longtime member of Delta's board of directors, helped recruit Mullin as CEO in 1997. At the time, the hiring of Mullin, a former banker and utility executive, was cast as a move to inject outside corporate talent into the often-insular club of airline executives.
Mullin, in turn, hired several outside executives from firms such as General Electric and Arthur Andersen while pushing out longtime executives who had risen from within Delta's ranks.
Some employees and former executives later complained that the shift sidetracked many careers and hurt employee morale.
Grinstein was not available for an interview for this story.
People who have met with Grinstein in recent weeks think he is likely to name a core group of three or four current Delta executives to oversee the airline's broad functions, including flight operations, marketing and customer service.
Most often mentioned as likely to get expanded duties: Joseph Kolshak, Delta's senior vice president of flight operations; Paul G. Matsen, senior vice president of international and alliances; and Fred Buttrell, president of Delta Connection, Delta's regional carrier group.
Escarra also is likely to stay in a key role, they say, though her duties could change. On a number of occasions, Grinstein has said he is unhappy with Delta's marketing strategy.
Duster thinks Grinstein will be able to find several key players within Delta's offices. "It is often the case that in the middle-management ranks you have great people ... who just keep quiet and don't step out" under a previous CEO, he said.
"They can rise to key roles, but they have to be willing to step up and see the [new CEO's] vision."