I don’t think you had to know much about Delta Airlines to see this one coming. Rising star James Whitehurst has just resigned from his COO position at Delta Airlines. My hunch is that this will hurt Delta more than many think it will and that odds are pretty good that we’ll see Whitehurst at the helm of a company pretty soon. Richard Anderson looks to be a good choice for Delta, but no one likes to be passed over, especially for an outsider. I think a lot of people were expecting Delta to choose someone from their own bench given the depth that they have. Ah, but who knows what goes on in those boardrooms once the doors are closed?

Whitehurst’s bio (from Delta’s website):

Jim Whitehurst, 38, is Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for Operations, Sales and Customer Service, Network and Revenue Management, Marketing, and Corporate Strategy.

A native of Columbus, Ga., Whitehurst graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas, with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Economics. He also attended Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany, holds a general course degree from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Harvard Business School.