May 13, 2008 4:41 pm US/Central
Northwest Airlines Exec Neal Cohen Leaving
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) ―
Northwest Airlines Corp. said Tuesday that executive Neal Cohen, who worked as chief financial officer during its bankruptcy reorganization, is leaving.
Northwest is working to combine with Delta Air Lines Inc. by the end of this year.
Cohen, 48, was promoted to executive vice president for strategy and international operations right after Northwest emerged from bankruptcy protection on May 31, 2007.
He said in the statement that "with the impending merger with Delta, I'm excited about the opportunity to pursue business interests outside of the airline industry that I put on hold when I returned to Northwest." His departure is effective June 16.
Spokeswoman Tammy Lee declined to say more about what Cohen will be doing next. She said Cohen's work will be taken over by other Northwest executives. The regional airlines Mesaba and Compass will be run by Executive Vice President for Operations Andy Roberts.
In his first stint with the airline, from 1991 to 2000, Cohen held several senior positions, including senior vice president and treasurer. He then went to U.S. Airways in 2002, soon before it entered bankruptcy protection. Because of that, he raised eyebrows when he returned to Northwest as chief financial officer in May 2005. Northwest filed for bankruptcy protection in September of that year.
Northwest President and CEO Doug Steenland said Cohen "made tremendous contributions during a critical time for Northwest Airlines."
Delta has said the headquarters for the combined company will be in Atlanta. Cohen could have collected as much as $7.1 million if he had lost his job after the combination, according to an April 29 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Instead, he'll collect $815,883, almost all of which is pension benefits he has built up during about 12 years with the company. He also gets travel privileges for the rest of his life and will collect a $100,000 retention payment because he stayed past May 1.
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