Longtime Delta Air Lines CFO Paul Jacobson will forgo his planned retirement to help guide the company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision was announced April 21 by Delta CEO Ed Bastian in a memo to employees. Bastian said he extended an offer to Jacobson last week to stay on through the crisis, adding that Jacobson had agreed to remain at the company “for many years to come.”
“Paul’s experience and guidance have been critical to Delta’s initial response to the COVID-19 crisis,” Bastian said. “Under his leadership, we have boosted our liquidity through commercial markets and expanded our cash position to help us weather the storm in the months to come.”
The reversal comes less than two months after the company announced in late February that Jacobson would retire, following a transition period that would have seen him stay in place until a successor could be found and brought up to speed.
At 48 years old, Jacobson first joined Delta in 1997, and has played a key role in guiding the carrier through other crises over the last 20 years, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the company’s bankruptcy and restructuring in 2005-07 and the 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines.
“Paul and his team have been instrumental in executing our strategy for cost reduction while forging the path ahead so that Delta is positioned to lead the industry when the recovery comes,” Bastian said.
Delta has agreed to receive $5.4 billion in payroll support under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, including a $3.8 billion grant and a $1.6 billion loan, and will provide the U.S. Treasury Department warrants equal to roughly 1% of the company’s stock, priced at $24.39 per share. The company has not indicated yet whether it will seek to tap into an additional tranche of $25 billion in federal loans to be made available under the stimulus law.
The Atlanta-based carrier has drawn down 80% of its schedule and raised over $3 billion in new cash in the latter part of the first quarter to cushion the impact of the spreading coronavirus outbreak. Roughly 35,000 Delta employees have agreed to voluntary leaves of absence offered by the company, more than a third of its roughly 90,000-member workforce.
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