I have to disagree. I think that what the airlines truly needed was somebody to think outside of the realm of legacy thought that has plagued the big guys for so long. Not since Kelleher has the US aviation industry had an outside thinker. Neeleman tried but lost his vision by just entering into a plane ordering contest with no idea of where to put them. Chasing off Whitehurst and bringing in a seasoned LEGACY leader was not a move towards continueing to bolster the "fresh start" that DL was working on. Whitehurst brought a Branson-esque flair (which is why he'll now go head Virgin America if his non-compete clause will allow) and sought to invigorate the service and yes...to find areas that could be changed. Simply b/c something has been done one way for decades in this industry is not a reason to not want to change it. Anderson taking the helm will guarantee that we head right back into "legacy-ship" by thinking like an old hub-and-spoke carrier. He is, after all, the one that helped pave the road to NW's BK. Don't forget a past with Lorenzo. Chasing off Whitehurst in order to bring in people that will restore the management to late-90's style was the absolute wrong thing to do. I'll take McDonald's over Ponderosa any day.
