Delta Air Lines is rehiring a former chief of the now-defunct Song unit to run its Comair subsidiary while moving the current Comair president into a broader role that will include troubleshooting chronic service issues.
The shuffle brings John Selvaggio --- an industry veteran known for playing trumpet in a jazz band at some Song events --- out of retirement to take the controls of Cincinnati-based Comair.
Current Comair President Don Bornhorst becomes senior vice president of Delta Connection, which oversees all of Delta's regional connection operations. The move is effective Oct. 15.
Wayne Aaron, who has been vice president of Delta Connection, will return to a formerly held strategy and planning post at Delta.
The changes follow the naming of ex-Northwest Airlines chief Richard Anderson as Delta's new CEO last month.
Longtime industry consultant Mike Boyd said Delta's move to recruit Selvaggio is a "home run" because it should free up Delta executives to focus on fixing problems at their biggest contract carrier in Atlanta, Atlantic Southeast Airlines.
"Selvaggio knows how to run an airline. ... Bornhorst can worry about fixing the rest of the system," said Boyd, who has represented Montgomery and other cities in efforts to improve their air service.
Bornhorst, 42, takes over a division plagued by some of the industry's worst measures of services. Comair and ASA, an Atlanta-based carrier once owned by Delta, often rank near the bottom in the government's monthly reports on late arrivals and lost baggage. While Delta owns Comair, Atlantic Southeast and other regional affiliates operate flights under contracts with the larger carrier.
Aaron was put in charge of Delta Connection last spring partly to marshal improvements at ASA.
Delta took over ASA's ground operations at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in June, but the carrier's standing in government statistics has shown little change.
Regional carriers have taken on a bigger role in Delta's operations as the airline has shifted more of its mainline jets from domestic routes to more profitable overseas routes, where there is less competition from discount carriers.
Delta Connection traffic was up about 11 percent in September compared with the same month two years ago. Delta's international traffic grew almost 39 percent in two years, while overall traffic was up 4 percent.
Bornhorst had been president of Comair since May 2006.
Selvaggio, 60, is dusting off his wings after retiring from his post at Song in 2004.
He piloted Song's launch in 2003, when Delta hoped the oddly named unit would help it compete with JetBlue and other upstarts in the hotly contested New York market.
Song targeted women and leisure travelers out of New York with its Boeing 757s painted white with big lime-green swoops. But Delta ditched Song shortly after beginning a bankruptcy restructuring in fall 2005.
