(Reuters) -Railroad operator Norfolk Southern said on Thursday it had elected former Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson as the independent chair of the board effective immediately.
Anderson will additionally serve as chair of the Executive Committee and Strategy & Planning Committee, the company said.
The aviation veteran's appointment comes after Claude Mongeau resigned from the U.S. railway operator's board as chairman earlier this month, citing personal reasons.
In May last year, activist hedge fund Ancora Holdings won backing from Norfolk Southern shareholders for board representation, resulting in Anderson's appointment to the company's board.
(Reporting by Ananya Palyekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
Richard H. Anderson is an American businessperson who has been at the head of 7 different companies. Mr. Anderson is on the board of Cargill, Inc. and 4 other companies.
In the past he occupied the position of Executive Chairman at Delta Air Lines, Inc. Chief Executive Officer for Northwest Airlines Corp. and Chief Executive Officer for Northwest Airlines, Inc. (both are subsidiaries of Delta Air Lines, Inc.), President-Commercial Services Group & Executive VP at UnitedHealth Group, Inc. Chief Executive Officer of OptumInsight, Inc. and President of OptumHealth, Inc. (both are subsidiaries of UnitedHealth Group, Inc.), President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at National Railroad Passenger Corp., Vice President-Staff & Deputy General Counsel at Continental Airlines, Inc., Member of National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and Chairman of Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
Richard H. Anderson received a graduate degree from Houston College of Law and an undergraduate degree from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Norfolk Southern Corporation specializes in merchandise transportation by rail. Net sales break down by activity as follows:
- rail transportation of freight (75.3%): transportation of agricultural, paper, forestry and consumer products (27.7% of net sales), chemicals (24%), metals and construction materials (18.8%), coal (16.2%), and automotive (13.3%);
- intermodal transportation (24.7%).
At the end of 2025, the group operated a rail network of 30,738.5 km as well as a fleet of 3,258 locomotives, 36,564 freight cars and 17,404 containers.
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