Amtrak Names William J. Flynn as New CEO

Amtrak announced William J. Flynn would take over as Chief Executive Officer and President on April 15.

Flynn will succeed Richard Anderson, who has been the rail company’s CEO since joining Amtrak in 2017. Anderson will stay on for the remainder of 2020 as a senior advisor to Flynn, who enters the job with four decades of transportation and logistics experience.

The 66-year-old Flynn most recently served 13 years as President and CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, and previously worked in senior leadership with CSX Transportation, Sea-Land Services, Inc. and GeoLogistics Corp.

“Bill is the right executive to lead us into the future,” Amtrak Board Chairman Tony Coscia said in a statement. “We’ve never been stronger as a company than we are today. We are modernizing the customer experience and delivering our service to more people.”

“Bill has a consistent track record of growing and improving complex transportation businesses,” Coscia continued. “We are confident he will build upon the strong foundation of record-setting growth and improvement set by the Board, Richard and the entire Amtrak team.”

Flynn takes over a rail company that set new records in ridership, revenue and earnings in 2019 and is on pace to achieve operational breakeven for the first time in Amtrak’s 49-year history.

“Amtrak’s future is incredibly bright and I’m excited to join the team,” Flynn said in a statement. “Amtrak service is vital to millions of Americans across the nation and by improving the customer experience, driving safety, and strengthening our partnership with states and other stakeholders, we can do much more for the American people.”