Richard H. Anderson (born May 2, 1955) is a retired American lawyer and business executive. In his early career, he served as a prosecutor and corporate attorney, before moving into executive positions. His most prominent roles were as CEO of several large companies in the transportation industry: Northwest Airlines (2001–2004), Delta Air Lines (2007–2016), and Amtrak (2017–2020). Early life and education Anderson was born in Galveston, Texas, to Hale Anderson, an office worker for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and Frances Anderson, a medical receptionist. His family, which also included five sisters, moved to Dallas and later Amarillo, Texas. His parents died of cancer when Richard was 20 years old. Anderson attended Texas Tech University and the University of Houston, graduating from the latter in 1977 with a degree in political science. He earned a J.D. degree in 1982 from the South Texas College of Law before working as a prosecutor for the district attorney office of Harris County, Texas. Career Anderson entered the aviation industry after accepting a legal position at Continental Airlines and served as the airline's representative during the investigation of Continental Airlines Flight 1713 in 1987. Anderson, who had never considered a career in the aviation industry, accepted the position at the urging of Ben Hirst, a neighbor who worked at Continental as a legal counsel. Hirst and Anderson left Continental for Northwest Airlines in 1990, with the latter serving as a deputy general counsel for the airline. At Northwest, Anderson was initially charged with labor relations and government affairs. Despite having no experience in airline operations, he was named senior vice president of technical operations and airport affairs. Anderson was promoted to CEO of Northwest Airlines in June 2001 after the departure of John Dasburg. Anderson served as Chief Executive Officer of Northwest Airlines from 2001 to 2004, Executive Vice President of United Healthcare from 2004 to 2007, and as CEO of Delta Air Lines from 2007 to 2016, which would later merge with Northwest. In 2010, during his tenure at Delta, Anderson led an anti-union campaign against the Association of Flight Attendants, calling the labor union "un-Christian" and "immoral." On February 3, 2016, Delta Air Lines announced Anderson would retire as CEO effective May 2, 2016, and assume position as Executive Chairman of the Delta Air Lines board of directors. On October 11, 2016, Anderson announced his retirement from the Board of