Northwest Airlines Names Anderson CEO And Steenland President Executive Succession Plan Affirms Airlines Strategic Focus

Northwest Airlines (NASDAQ: NWAC) today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Richard H. Anderson, age 46, Northwest’s current executive vice president and chief operating officer, to the position of chief executive officer, and Douglas M. Steenland, age 49, currently executive vice president and chief corporate officer, to the position of president.

John H. Dasburg, age 58, who has been president and chief executive officer since 1990, has informed the Board that he will become chairman, chief executive officer and president of Burger King Corporation, a Miami-based subsidiary of Diageo plc, on April 1, 2001.

“The most important duty of a Board of Directors is to develop the right succession plan and to implement it at the appropriate time,” said Gary L. Wilson, Northwest Airlines chairman. “Succession planning has been a major priority at Northwest for several years. We were fortunate to identify these two outstanding individuals at Northwest ready to assume the top positions. Richard Anderson is an exceptional airline executive with broad experience in all aspects of our business. He deserves credit for Northwest’s strong operating performance and number one on-time record among major network carriers. He has also been the driving force behind the development of the new Detroit terminal and the expansion of Northwest’s major hub operations worldwide.”

Wilson added “Doug Steenland is also a superb executive with complementary skills and experience who played the key role in forging Northwest’s ground-breaking alliance with Continental and in enhancing our important strategic relationship with KLM. Together, Richard and Doug will be an outstanding team.”

Wilson continued,” We salute and thank John Dasburg for the first-rate job he has done at Northwest and we wish him great success as he relocates to Florida and returns to the restaurant industry.”

“Leaving Northwest is a very difficult personal decision,” said Dasburg. “I am proud of what we have accomplished at Northwest together in the past decade, and I am confident that I am leaving the company in very capable hands.”

“The outstanding efforts of our 55,000 employees have made Northwest a strong, dynamic competitor,” said Anderson. “In the past year we achieved first-rate operational performance and produced the highest revenue in our history. I am confident we are well positioned for success in a rapidly evolving industry and I look forward to continue working with Doug Steenland and our entire management team to build on our accomplishments and make Northwest the first choice airline of our customers.”

“Richard and I have worked successfully together as a team for a decade as key players in developing Northwest’s successful strategy,” said Steenland. “I look forward to continuing that partnership as we maintain our focus on implementing Northwest’s proven strategy to realize the full potential of this airline.”

Anderson, who joined Northwest in 1990 as vice president and deputy general counsel, is currently responsible for all operating activities, including flight operations, technical operations, ground operations and in-flight services, in addition to facilities and airport affairs. He has been chief operating officer since 1998.

Before joining Northwest, Anderson spent three years at Continental Airlines in legal affairs. He serves on the Board of Mesaba Aviation, the Board of Overseers of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, the Board of Minnesota Life Insurance Company, and the Minneapolis Downtown Council. He is also a trustee for the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.

Steenland joined Northwest in 1991 as vice president and deputy general counsel and became senior vice president and general counsel in 1994. In 1999, he was named executive vice president and chief corporate officer with responsibility for a wide range of functions including domestic and international airline alliances, government affairs, legal affairs, labor relations, and corporate communications. He is also general counsel.

Before joining Northwest Steenland was a senior partner with Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand, a Washington, D.C. law firm known for its work in transportation and government relations matters. Earlier in his career, he was an attorney for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Steenland serves on the Board of Mesaba Aviation, the Board of Express Airlines, Inc. and the Board of the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra.