Richard Anderson, the skilled and pugnacious CE who propelled Delta Air Lines to financial and operational dominance in the 9 years he has been its leader, is retiring in May and will become executive chairman of the board. He will be succeeded as CE by Ed Bastian, Delta’s long-time president, the company said Wednesday. Anderson has displayed a golden touch at Delta. He arrived just as Delta was emerging from bankruptcy-court protection, merged it with Northwest Airlines a year later and built the combined company into a highly profitable machine with the highest market cap -- US$34b -– of any US carrier. Delta said Bastian will be succeeded as president by Glen Hauenstein, the executive VP and CRO. Daniel Carp, currently Delta’s nonexecutive chairman, said that this succession plan has been several years in the making. <br/>
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Korean Air reported a Q4 2015 net profit of KRW92b (US$76m), reversed from a net loss of KRW272b in the year-ago period, although the improved result was heavily skewed by gains related to exchange rate movements. Operating profit declined 2% year-on-year to KRW150b. Operating costs for the quarter were down 1.5%, despite a 28.2% drop in fuel spending. The largest cost increase was in the maintenance category, due to engine work for Boeing 777-300ER being concentrated in Q4. Domestic passenger load factor rose 8.5 points to 75.2%, and international load factor increased 2.5 points to 76.3%. A 10% rise in international passengers was attributed to a 24% increase in Korean outbound travel, offsetting a 3% drop in passengers from overseas. Korean Air plans to take delivery of 16 Boeing aircraft this year. <br/>