Delta COO Mike Spanos Departing for New Opportunity

Delta Air Lines has announced that its Chief Operating Officer, Mike Spanos, will be leaving the company at the end of August for a new position elsewhere. Spanos, who joined Delta in May 2023, will step down after just over a year in the role.

In a securities filing released Friday, Delta confirmed Spanos’ departure. CEO Ed Bastian addressed the move in an internal memo, revealing that Spanos had informed him earlier in the summer of his intention to explore opportunities outside of Delta. This decision comes on the heels of a significant operational disruption caused by a CrowdStrike outage in July, which reportedly cost Delta around $500 million. The airline has announced plans to seek compensation from CrowdStrike and Microsoft for these disruptions.

Spanos’ departure is noteworthy given his brief tenure at Delta. Before joining the airline, he held prominent leadership roles, including CEO of Six Flags Entertainment and various executive positions at PepsiCo.

Delta has decided not to replace Spanos. Instead, John Laughter, Delta’s Chief of Operations and President of the TechOps maintenance and overhaul unit, and Allison Ausband, Chief Customer Experience Officer, will report directly to CEO Ed Bastian moving forward.