Word: grinstein
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Delta might be enjoying a bit of blue sky, but Grinstein understands the frustrations of airline travel. Pricing is a big one. The rise of low-cost carriers was supposed to simplify prices for everyone, but that hasn't happened. "People are suspicious," he says, "and wonder what kind of game is being played because they don't understand what the system is designed to do." Ideally, he says, airlines would have an auction at the gate for every seat on a flight; those who absolutely had to fly would pay the most...
Instead, airlines taunt us with a byzantine yield-management pricing system that tries to factor in fuel prices, weather, congestion and everything else that complicates air travel. "It's not like any other business I know," says Grinstein. Selling an airline ticket is "more like trying to figure out a prisoner's dilemma than it is about trying to sell a can of paint." (Guess who's the prisoner?) Compare JetBlue's walk-up fares with Delta's advance-purchase fares, he says, and you'll see little difference. Still, demand is unusually high this year, meaning travelers should expect...
...native of Seattle, Grinstein took his first flight on Northwest 70 years ago and has spent his entire career in planes and trains. He helped form one of the largest railroads in the U.S., saved Western Airlines by merging it with Atlanta-based Delta in 1987, and last year steered Delta past a hostile $9.8 billion takeover bid by U.S. Airways Group. A Delta director since 1987, Grinstein introduced more narrow-bodied aircraft for the airline's short-haul markets, doubled its international business to 36% of revenue and strengthened New York's John F. Kennedy Airport...
...Grinstein's successor as CEO (the front runners are Delta's COO James Whitehurst and CFO Edward Bastian) faces a massive reorganization plan. He will also have to overcome the reputation of airline management as inept--a rap that makes Grinstein bristle. Airlines, he says, are uniquely vulnerable and volatile--even "the latest darling of the industry, JetBlue." "Are we worse run than automobiles? Than the steel companies?" asks Grinstein. "Bob Crandall [former American Airlines CEO] used to say the difficulty in this industry is that you're at the mercy of your dumbest competitor." Airline executives, he says...
...last months as boss, Grinstein is focused overseas. He has five 777s on order for routes to Asia but is still considering Boeing's Dreamliner and the Airbus 380. In March 2008, Delta will start six daily nonstops out of Heathrow. And if the rest of the industry catches up with Delta, well, Grinstein did come out of retirement once before...