Amtrak names former Atlas Air executive Flynn as new CEO
Amtrak has named a veteran transportation executive as its new president and chief executive, the company announced Monday.
William Flynn, a business leader with decades of experience in transportation and logistics, will take the top job at Amtrak on April 15. He will replace Richard Anderson, who has served as Amtrak's top executive since July 2017.
Anderson will remain at the company as a senior adviser to Flynn through the end of 2020.
"Bill is the right executive to lead us into the future," said Anthony Coscia, chairman of Amtrak's board of directors, praising Flynn as the best leader to build upon Amtrak's growth.
"Bill brings a very long track record of keeping companies strong and building upon their strength, and we think that's what we are going to see now in someone who will have a longer time horizon as CEO of the company," Coscia said.
Flynn, 66, comes to Amtrak with a robust résumé in transportation. He retired from Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings in January, after a 13-year tenure of serving the global airfreight and military and passenger charter markets as president, chief executive and board chairman. Before joining Atlas Air, Flynn held senior roles at CSX Transportation, Sea-Land Services and GeoLogistics.
Amtrak officials say they expect Flynn to stay at Amtrak for a longer than his two predecessors, and to carry on the progress made in recent years, including record-setting growth, financial milestones and service improvements.
Amtrak carried 32.5 million passengers last year, a record in the company's 40-year history. The company also inched closer to breaking even in the last fiscal year, reporting that its operating revenue rose to $3.3 billion, up by 3.6% from the previous year. The revenue growth, Anderson and Coscia say, will lead Amtrak to positive earnings for the first time.
"Our balance sheet is essentially free of debt now. As we look at our operations, we've run better on-time operations than we have in quite some time and this year we're projected to break even on an operating basis, which would make us the most efficient government-owned inner-city rail operator in the world," Anderson said in an interview Monday.
Amtrak officials say the growth is the result of years of investments and operational changes, including more robust partnerships with states, which has led to an increase in short-distance service in some states, such as Virginia and California.
Under Anderson's leadership Amtrak expanded the Acela brand with nonstop service between the District of Columbia and New York last year, and has made improvements such as improving WiFi and refurbishing train interiors. A new high-speed Acela fleet will be entering service in the Northeast Corridor next year.
While Amtrak says the changes have been effective in turning the company into a revenue-making entity, they haven't been without criticism. Anderson has pushed airline-like practices to cut costs, including changing onboard kitchen service to prepackaged meals, introducing new cancellation fees and most recently making the lowest fare tickets nonrefundable.
"We believe that much of the turnaround work at Amtrak is either completed or well underway," Anderson said. Anderson had made a commitment to lead the government-owned company for three years.
Still Amtrak is faced with major challenges, including billions needed to maintain and rebuild aging infrastructure in the Northeast, the country's busiest rail corridor. It also has to convince the White House to make such investments. President Donald Trump's proposed budget would cut Amtrak's funding by more than half, and the administration has held onto funding for critical infrastructure projects in recent years.
Flynn, in a statement, praised Amtrak's leadership and employees for the work done in "modernizing the company for the 21st Century" and said it would be "a privilege to join them in continuing this work and advancing something as important as Amtrak's mission.
"Amtrak's future is incredibly bright and I'm excited to join the team," he said. "Amtrak service is vital to millions of Americans across the nation and by improving the customer experience, driving safety, and strengthening our partnership with states and other stakeholders, we can do much more for the American people."
