Delta Air Lines Chief Operations Officer To Depart At The End Of The Month

Summary Delta Air Lines COO Mike Spanos is leaving after just 15 months, prompting $500 million in losses from recent disruptions. Spanos helped reduce staff injuries at Delta, but the airline is now seeking compensation due to the CrowdStrike outage. The airline will not immediately replace Spanos, with TechOps President and Chief Experience Officer reporting directly to the CEO.

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines will see its current Chief Operating Officer leave by the end of the month, the airline confirmed in a securities filing on Friday. The current CEO, Ed Bastian , noted in an employee memo to the airline employees that Mike Spanos, the current COO, is taking a new job at another company. 15 months with the carrier Spanos' departure comes after he spent just 15 months on the job at the SkyTeam carrier and only weeks after the airline suffered a meltdown following the massive CrowdStrike outage in July.

Delta Air Lines is already estimating that the disruptions have caused around $500 million in losses, and it plans to seek compensation from both CrowdStrike and Microsoft. Bastian has been open about Spanos' imminent departure, noting that the COO had confirmed earlier in the summer that he was considering opportunities outside Delta Air Lines. At present, Delta does not have immediate plans to replace Spanos, and the President of TechOps (John Laughter, and Chief Experience Officer, Allison Ausband, will now report directly to the CEO.

Spanos, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran,.