Amtrak announced that it has named William J. Flynn as its next chief executive officer and president.
Flynn, who has four decades of transportation and logistics experience, will begin his role on April 15, 2020.
Amtrak employs 1,000 in Delaware with operations and maintenance operations in northern Delaware. Wilmington is one of Amtrak’s busiest stations.
Flynn succeeds Richard Anderson, who joined Amtrak as CEO in July 2017. Anderson, who fulfills his three-year commitment to the company this year, will remain with Amtrak through the end of the year as a senior advisor to Flynn.
Flynn, 66, most recently, he served 13 years with Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc., which serves the global air freight, military charter and passenger charter markets, as President and CEO and Board Chairman. He also held senior roles with CSX Transportation, Sea-Land Services, Inc., and GeoLogistics Corp.
“Bill is the right executive to lead us into the future,” said Amtrak Board Chairman Tony Coscia. “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. 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.”
In fiscal year 2019, Amtrak set new records in ridership, revenue and earnings.
In 2020, Amtrak is on pace to achieve operational breakeven for the first time in the company’s 49-year history. Additionally, Amtrak is investing billions in capital assets and is undertaking the largest fleet renewal in company history, with new high-speed Acela trains entering service on the Northeast Corridor next year.
“I congratulate the Board on selecting Bill to lead Amtrak into its 50th year and beyond,” said Anderson. “Bill brings deep expertise across all aspects of transportation and a true passion for the customer. As the company refleets our equipment, expands our services and advances key infrastructure projects like the Gateway Program, it will require the steady leadership and relentless drive for improvement that I know Bill can provide.”
Anderson brought to Amtrak a hard-nosed approach on costs and performance that were part of his time tenure as the successful CEO of Delta and Northwest Airlines.
He ruffled feathers of members of Congress and railfans with proposals to cut back service on money-losing long-distance routes that travel through lightly populated states.
Instead, he pushed for bolstering shorter routes between cities and making improvements on the Northeast Corridor, which is a break-even route for Amtrak.
