Nov 18, 2008 3:59 pm US/Central
2 Delta Subsidiaries Get New Presidents
ATLANTA (AP) ―
Two of Delta Air Lines Inc.'s regional subsidiaries that handle connecting service for the world's biggest carrier said Tuesday they have replaced their presidents.
Chantilly, Va.-based Compass Airlines said Tim Campbell, a Northwest Airlines executive, was named its new president, replacing John Bendoraitis, who has been named the new president at Erlanger, Ky.-based Comair Inc.
At Comair, Bendoraitis replaces John Selvaggio, who is retiring. Selvaggio, who headed Comair for about 13 months, at one time was in charge of Delta's short-lived discount subsidiary, Song.
Under Bendoraitis, Compass had a smooth start after being launched last year, going from a single regional jet to flying 36 of them by the end of this year. Comair, meanwhile, has struggled with on-time performance and baggage handling relative to the rest of the industry.
Second-to-last in August, Comair had the lowest on-time arrival rate in September, at 77.4 percent, according to the Department of Transportation. Comair had the worst mishandled baggage rate in August with 9.73 reports per 1,000 passengers. Despite the rankings, Comair's performance has improved in recent months.
Delta executives have talked in the past about the possibility of selling Comair, but to date no decision has been announced. Delta's president said earlier this year that Comair would remain an important part of the Delta Connection network regardless of anything else that might happen in the future.
Delta has a third regional subsidiary, Mesaba Airlines, which, like Compass, was inherited when Delta bought Northwest for $2.8 billion in stock on Oct. 29.
Compass currently operates EMB-175 aircraft and offers over 160 scheduled flights daily to over 40 domestic and international destinations. Comair operates 511 flights a day to 77 international and domestic destinations.
Don Bornhorst, senior vice president of Delta Connection, said Tuesday in separate statements that the appointments of Campbell at Compass and Bendoraitis at Comair will be good for Delta's network.
Delta, meanwhile, sought earlier this year to end certain flying contracts with two other Delta Connection carriers, Freedom Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines. Delta cited performance issues in both cases. Freedom won a court decision to block Delta's move. Delta is appealing that decision. Pinnacle and Delta have resolved their issues, and Pinnacle continues to operate flights for Delta. Freedom and Pinnacle are not owned by Delta.
Separately, Delta and ExpressJet earlier this year agreed to terminate a regional flying contract.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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