Delta President of International Steve Sear on Continuity for Corporates

• His new role
• Making investments where corporate travelers fly
• Delta’s commitment to performance excellence

Recent changes in executive leadership at Delta Air Lines show the depth of the carrier’s bench. Confident in its current strategy, Delta plans to stay the course on such priorities as employee engagement, commitment to corporates and integrated alliance partnerships.

BTN: Richard Anderson will transition to the position of executive chairman in May, and Ed Bastian will take the helm as CEO. There are a host of other changes down the bench, as well. Can you boil down what these changes mean for corporate clients?

Sear: The Delta leadership succession has been very effective. Richard is retiring in May and we are going to miss him, but he leaves a great legacy: The Flight Plan, Rules of the Road, The Way We Fly. What’s been the driver in this transition is the depth of the leadership team. We have Ed [Bastian] as the CEO. [He and Richard Anderson] have been working together hand in hand for the past decade. With Glen [Hauenstein] appointed to president and Gil [West] appointed to senior executive vice president and chief operations officer, it shows the commitment and continuity that Delta is going to provide for corporate customers. We continue to be confident in our strategy, and we are going to stay the course. We focus on our employees and having them the most engaged. They take care of our customers, and that, in turn, takes care of our shareholders. We are going to stay focused on our culture and making sure Delta employees are the best in the industry.

BTN: Your position has changed, as well. As president of international and executive vice president of global sales, how are your responsibilities changing?

Sear: I’ll remain focused on our global sales activities for the corporate and agency community. The globalization is the natural outcome of where our corporation and agency partners are growing and moving, as well. As we expand our programs and initiatives worldwide, we will do that organically—and more so with our alliance partners. Where we are making those investments—whether in China, Mexico or Brazil or the U.K.—those investments are in the markets where corporate travelers fly.

BTN: Delta has ongoing joint-venture initiatives and equity partnerships in those markets. How are you leveraging them, and how does the nature of these partnerships benefit corporate clients?

Sear: Delta has the most integrated joint ventures, where we share bottom lines. That makes the companies in the joint venture think about the customer first and foremost. Unique also are the equity positions that Delta has taken in [some] alliance partners. Virgin Atlantic is an example where we were able to quickly work together to provide seamless service between the U.K. and the United States. You will see similar activities in Mexico [with Aeromexico], pending government approval of the joint venture and [antitrust immunity], and continued focus in Brazil with our partner Gol. We also will continue to build our connectivity and joint programs with China Eastern with its core hub in Shanghai.

BTN: On the international front, how well is Delta positioned to compete?

Sear: We are positioned incredibly well. In Latin America, we just won three Latin trade awards as the best North American airline. … In Asia, we just won awards with TTG China among others, and as we build out our China Eastern hub, we’ll continue to increase our brand presence there. In Europe, [we have] the most integrated and effective joint ventures, with AF/KLM Alitalia  and to the U.K. with Virgin Atlantic. But this is the most competitive and complex industry in the world, and that’s what makes it fun.

BTN: On the domestic front, United has responded to Delta’s Operational Performance Commitment. Plus, United posted improved performance numbers out of the gate in 2016. How is that shaping up?

Sear: We are by far the most reliable airline, and at the core are the Delta people. …  They are the most engaged and committed to providing on-time service. In 2015 for the calendar year, we were No. 1 both in the completion factor and arrival categories, and that trend continued in January when we were No. 1 [in those categories again]. If you look at Winter Storm Jonas, we had the fewest cancels in the New York area: [Delta had] 2,000, while some of our competitors had up to three times that. We were the first to operate after the storm on Monday, when most carriers didn’t open up until Tuesday. That shows not only our commitment to operational excellence on “blue sky” days but our ability to perform when situations are not ideal. We are confident that we will continue to lead the industry. It also shows our corporate clients that [in terms of] the total cost of travel, above and beyond the contract, Delta provides a better savings proposition because of the reliability.

BTN: What are you watching in 2016?

Sear: On the sales front, we are committed to our easy-to-do-business-with strategy. Part of that will be continued simplification of contracts, continued 24/7/365 sales support on a global basis and continued leveraging of our technology investments to improve our B2B partnerships. On the global front, we are so bullish with the opportunities we have with our alliance partners, and our level of integration with them is unprecedented. This will help us find opportunities to enhance our value proposition for customers and our overall performance.