Amtrak Names New President And CEO Amid Ongoing Troubles And Repairs At Penn Station
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Amtrak's CEO is being replaced.
Charles "Wick" Moorman will be succeeded by former Delta and Northwest Airlines chief Richard Anderson, who will start on July 12.
For months, Moorman has been the face to blame for commuter chaos.
Moorman will serve as co-CEO with Anderson through the end of the year, at which point Moorman will become an advisor to the company.
"The board believes [Anderson] is the right leader at the right time to drive the quality of customer service that our passengers, partners and stakeholders expect and deserve while continuing our path towards operational and financial excellence," said Amtrak's Chairman of the Board Tony Coscia.
As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, Anderson is known as a man with a knack for hard jobs. He's received worldwide recognition for his abilities.
Anderson was named one of the World's Best Chief Executive Officers by Barron's magazine in 2014, and in 2013 he was recognized as Fortune magazine's Top People in Business list. Aviation Week named him person of the year in 2015.
"It is an honor to join Amtrak at a time when passenger rail service is growing in importance in America," Anderson said. "Amtrak is a great company today, and I'm excited about using my experience and working with the board to make it even better. I'm passionate about building strong businesses that create the best travel experience possible for customers."
Sources tell CBS2 that the Amtrak board picked Anderson, in part, because his 25 years in the airline industry gives him vast experience in meeting the needs of passengers -- getting people to their destinations on time.
Amtrak said Moorman joined the company in September 2016 as "a transitional CEO tasked with improving the company's operations, streamlining the organizational structure, and helping recruit his successor." He was a long-time freight rail executive before joining the agency.
The announcement comes as Amtrak has been blasted by politicians and the public following a series of delays and disruptions at Penn Station, prompting a summer-long push to make repairs.
From July 10 to September 1, service in and out of Penn Station is expected to be reduced by 25 percent, affecting 600,000 commuters on Amtrak, NJ TRANSIT, and the Long Island Rail Road.
So will a new boss make a difference?
"I sure hope so," one man said, "because right now it's total chaos on a weekly basis. Out of control."
"Amtrak is not very efficient right now so if you change it I believe it will make a difference," Lila Ali of Princeton said.
Anderson comes aboard on July 12, two days after the summer service cuts begin.