Delta to Keep Separate CEO, Chairman

ATLANTA (AP) - Delta Air Lines Inc.'s chief executive officer and board chairman jobs are held by different people, and the nation's third-largest carrier wants to keep it that way when it emerges from bankruptcy.

The Atlanta-based company's official committee of unsecured creditors asked for court permission Tuesday to pay a search firm to help recruit a non-executive chairperson for the board of the reorganized Delta.

SSI Inc. is a consultant to the committee and is helping it identify, interview and assess proposed candidates for the new board. Delta's existing directors also are being considered.

Delta's current chief executive, Gerald Grinstein, is a member of Delta's board, but the chairman of the board is John F. Smith Jr., who is not employed as a Delta executive. Many major corporations give the CEO and board chairman jobs to one person, though some in recent years have opted to separate the positions.

Grinstein has said he plans to step down as CEO when Delta emerges from Chapter 11, which it could do as early as next month. A confirmation hearing on Delta's reorganization plan is scheduled for April 25 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Delta has not said who Grinstein's replacement will be. It has said that decision will be made after it determines who will serve on its new board.

SSI has been paid $350,000 for its help recruiting directors to serve on Delta's new board. The motion filed by Delta's official creditors committee Tuesday seeks permission to pay SSI, also referred to as Spencer Stuart, an extra $50,000 to help recruit a non-executive chairperson for the board.

Delta's board is currently comprised of Smith, Grinstein and eight outside directors.

Delta filed for bankruptcy in September 2005. It has projected it will be worth $9.4 billion to $12 billion when it emerges.

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