Skift Global Forum Preview: Amtrak CEO Wants to Bring Airline Nimbleness to the Rails
Photo Credit: Richard Anderson is bringing some airline sensibilities to the U.S. national railway. Amtrak
Skift Take
Amtrak needed someone to come in and run it like a private business. Former Delta CEO Richard Anderson was probably the right choice. He knows how to turn things around, even if he may ruffle a few feathers along the way.
When former Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson joined Amtrak two years ago, he sought to bring an airline's sensibilities to the national railway.
U.S. airlines may not be beloved by all customers, but over the past decade they have made impressive strides, providing safe, mostly reliable transportation at a reasonable cost, compared to historical norms. Amtrak, though, had been struggling, both with safety — it had two crashes in a short period — and with making enough money to cover its costs.
As it is government subsidized, Amtrak is probably never going to be as nimble as a private business. But Anderson has been pushing the railway to adopt some techniques implemented by the airline industry, in operations and commercial strategy.
Not everyone loves his approach, which sometimes prioritizes shorter money-making trains over long-haul routes. But along the East Coast, where the company produces the bulk of its revenue, Amtrak is improving, adding more comfortable trai
