(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Hi everybody, I'm Edwin Marcial, welcome to "Techrides."

I'm here with Gil West, Chief Operating Officer for Delta Air Lines.

We're riding in his beautiful just fantastic Ford GT 2020 Heritage Edition.

Gil, welcome to "Techrides."

- Thanks.

Thanks, well, thanks for having me.

- Oh, it's my pleasure.

Being in this fantastic car is a, I've been looking forward to this, it's really exciting, it's really cool.

This is the Ford GT 2020, Heritage Edition, which is paying homage to like the 1960s, Ford, GT Ford that won the Le Mans, right?

- Exactly.

- And is this in the 67, 68, was that the year for this particular model?

- Yeah, 66, they won it first time.

So they came out with these in 2016 for the 50th anniversary.

- So this has got the Gulf mood and the orange accent I always loved that color combination.

It's fantastic.

- Yeah, they built it to win Le Mans again and they won it in 2016 on the 50th anniversary.

- [Edwin] Oh, they did.

- Yeah, I was fortunate enough to be there.

I was just pulling for Porsche at the time.

- Really, okay.

(both conversing) That's amazing.

I didn't realize the name Ford, what did they game in 2016?

They been racing up to that one?

- No, they had not.

This was first factory team.

I think since the 60s, and they won it 2017 as well again.

- Wow, that's amazing.

So it's a 660 horsepower.

- [Gil] That's right.

- [Edwin] Twin turbo V-6.

- [Gil] Yep.

- 3.5 liter.

- Yes.

- Yeah, and the engine sounds amazing.

(car engine revving) All kinds of power, definitely throws you back.

- Fun car, it really is.

- And you're a big car guy.

You're mostly a Porsche guy.

- Yeah, I love old Porsches.

But truth be known, I grew up in a Ford family.

- Oh you did.

- My grandfather, Ford tractor, Ford truck, Mercury sedan.

My dad's the same way, a Ford truck, Ford station wagons.

I don't know if you remember the Country Squire station wagon and the backseat, as a kid.

I grew up in those.

So I've always had a sweet spot for Ford.

I still have a Ford truck and, so it's cool that Ford built something like this, it's a testimony to their engineering capability.

- It's like this car is, would you say only a couple hundred were made?

- Yeah, they built about 200 a year.

- Yeah, so it's super, super rare.

I mean, I've never even seen one on the road much less been in one, so this is a real treat.

(upbeat music) - So you've been with Delta for like 15 years?

- A dozen years.

- Dozen years, dozen years.

And COO for how long?

- About six years.

- Six years, okay.

So I looked at your profile and as COO you have tremendous list of responsibilities, like operation, safety, reliability, but also things like innovation, private jet service, you are responsible for, so how do you describe your role in terms what you do?

- Well, first I would just say, it's a real team sport at Delta, so we're all just part of the team.

My role maybe a little broader, but if I'm just one of the team.

So, I mean, my main day job is tasked with keeping the airline running safe and reliable and, it's been an amazing journey over the last roughly decade.

We've moved from last in all the metrics for the airlines to the very top, over the last four years we've been number one in the industry in every metric.

So operational reliability to customer experience and profitability.

And it's, again, it's just an incredible team and focuses and takes the hill.

So it's a lot of fun.

It's also for me, the technical part is a lot of fun.

It's part of me being a gear head since birth, really.

- Yeah, all right.

- And the only thing more fun than going out and turning wrenches on cars is doing the same thing on an aircraft.

So I'm a mechanical engineer and I've always loved cars and aircraft.

- [Edwin] How did you get from being an engineer to the COO?

- It's a long journey.

I started as a, I trace my roots back to literally my dad's auto part store.

So I kind of got hooked on cars and the technical side then went to engineering school at North Carolina State and went to work at Boeing as an engineer.

- Yeah.

- And then what's now part of United Technology as an engineer.

And, but I've always loved to get my hands dirty.

So I went to the airlines, it's a good place to do that.

- Yeah.

- And did a tour at United Airlines and Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines, and in between kind of ran a couple of mid-sized companies as well.

- So you were with Delta when Northwest was merging?

- I was, yeah, yep.

So that, the team did a great job merging the airlines.

I think we took the best of both worlds.

We took, I think, the, kind of the best in terms of process and technology, but also the best culture, the best people, the best leadership model, and really just blended a great team of people together.

And that's really what started our journey in the last decade from kind of the bottom to the top of the industry.

That was the catalyst that really fueled it all.

- What do you think that was?

What came out of that, that helped you get to the top?

Yeah.

- Yeah, I think it truly was adding dimensions that weren't there for either company.

Northwest probably tended to have more of the hard skills process, metrics, goals, data analytics, technology, Delta had more soft skills in terms of really looking at the customer, trying to take care of the customer, but also the leadership and culture, the team building aspects.

And it's the blend of that, that they created just really the best airline in the business.

- Exactly as somebody who flies Delta, well, prior to this year pretty often, I've always thought Delta was the best airline, best major airline company by far.

- Thanks Edwin, I didn't pay you to say that either.

- No, I've been saying this for a long time.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - It's been a really challenging four ways, we have going on four, five, six, seven months here now with the COVID 19 and the pandemic, and particularly a challenge for everybody, but it's a lot challenging for your industry, you as a leader, as an executive, and it's gotta be particularly tough the last few months, how have you been able to manage through that?

- Yeah, it's been really difficult for the team.

We had in February, celebrated profit sharing that we do every Valentine's day.

- Yeah.

- The largest profits in the history of the airline industry, much less in Delta, big profit sharing day for all our employees.

And then, then suddenly, literally a few weeks later, the bottom fell out of the industry and really the world.

So the way I would describe it is, we've been kind of the point of the spear with COVID.

We saw it first, and it's been a breathtaking journey.

But the team, that's the beauty of the Delta team, everybody really pulled together.

We've done everything we need to do to survive.

But then I think ultimately position ourself to be even a better airline on the backside of this.

But it's, you know our revenues have been down as much as 90% during COVID.

And the main focus we've had since the very beginning was we need to take the actions to keep people safe, our customers and our employees.

And, you know our primary focus of the team and the most dialogue we spend literally every day as a team is all safety in a layered risk mitigation strategy to fight COVID.

So you've seen it probably, and some of our actions if you've flown us, but our goals have been to keep aircraft virus free, to prevent the transmission of the virus onboard the aircraft, and then keep people virus free.

So, and whether it's been things like blocking the middle seat, electrostatic cleaning of the aircraft every flight with an antiviral chemical, or testing our employees regularly for COVID, all those kind of actions.

And I think we've led our industry, but really we're unique in terms of leading companies.

So we've been doing a lot of benchmarking outside within our industry, but outside of our industry to share what we're doing, so other companies can adopt it as well.

We partnered with the Mayo Clinic and at Emory.

- [Edwin] Yeah.

- And we've got some of the best medical advisors in the world.

And as, I mean, the world continues to learn about the virus and how to fight it, but the biggest thing you can do is a mask.

And, so it was a tough decision to mandate masks and we did it first with our employees.

- Right.

- And then for our customers.

But ultimately it's to keep all of us safe.

- Yeah.

And one interesting thing is that, early on a lot of people were considerably scared about flying because of the air circulation.

But I think one thing that hasn't really been emphasized enough and not remain clear to a lot of people is that because of the filtration system inside the airplane airplane air is one of the cleanest airs you can have because there is, the air flow comes from the top, right?

- It is.

- It blows out to the bottom and it goes into the filters.

And it's a very fine particle filter, the same kind you find in hospitals.

- Exactly.

- Right.

You know we have HEPA filters on board the aircraft and the air turns over about 30 times an hour, so it's the equivalent of an operating room quality of air.

It's clean, it turns over and really it just, it moves all the particles out quickly.

So when you look in terms of environments to be safe against COVID, the aircraft is actually the best of the best, it's the equivalent of operating room, literally.

- Right.

- And ironically we see it as we, we look at our rates, COVID rates for our employees and the industry has done the same thing.

Our rates for our employees that fly every day are much lower than the public COVID rates.

- That's interesting.

- I fly at least once a week but still... - Okay, what has been the most difficult challenging thing?

- Really resizing our airline to the new reality we're going through.

And we try to do everything we can to make, make that as painless as possible on the people side.

Cause we're a people-centric culture and really a family.

So we've had over 17,000 of our employees take an early retirement, an early exit.

And it's really saying goodbye to those folks it's been very, very difficult.

Because these are friends, and colleagues and they still will be for the rest of my life, but not to have the privilege to work with them every day, it's painful.

- You think that even after COVID that there be a full return on to the same level of travel?

- It's possible.

I think in terms of traveling public and the behavior thing, there is a couple of things.

One is, there's probably a pent up demand to travel, certainly on the leisure front.

I think people miss not being able to go places to the degree they had before.

So I think that pent up demand will return quickly.

But I think the business travel to your point will be a little longer tail to recover.

(upbeat music) - The last few months the other thing that's happened is there's been lot of unrest around racial inequality and particularly in Atlanta we've seen a lot of it, I know a lot of companies are looking to now see how they can improve diversity among their employees, particularly in their officers and directors, is Delta looking at something like that as well?

- Absolutely.

Yeah, we've, I think we've had a long history of diversity and, but, it's something that you can never over index and we're really working hard to improve our diversity.

We have probably one of the, if you look at it statistically, one of the most diverse workforces in the world.

But we also understand that our leadership has to reflect the diversity of our workforce and our workforce already reflects the diversity of the communities that we serve.

So, and we've gotta continue to take an active role in that and make sure that we're giving people opportunities for success and ultimately trying to find the pipelines for talent, that we can create a more diverse leadership team as well.

- Right, right.

The 737 Max plane from Boeing, I know Delta didn't order any of these, but as someone I was curious, you're a mechanical engineer, you're in the industry, what are your thoughts on how that situation is handled, any lessons that you can take away from that?

- Yeah, well, as I mentioned, I started my career in Boeing as an engineer, and Boeing's got incredible talent.

They're one of, I mean, probably the best engineering company in the whole world.

So just like... And I think the strength of our industry as a whole is that we're very transparent about safety.

And I think you can't fix something that you don't acknowledge or go after transparently.

And the industry is really, and the safety record of our industry is just unparalleled So they're, I think they're mistakes made, Boeing's acknowledged that, but they've been, I think very quick to learn lessons from that and put things in place to take safety to the next level.

- One of the concerns that I've heard about aviation system and it actually kind of applies also to self-driving cars, but, you know, with the autopilot systems where pilots have become so relying on the, the autopilot system that they aren't able to...

They're not as trained as much, spend much time flying a plane or adapting to emergency situations manually.

And I think that was part of the situation going back I can't remember exactly what, but I thought it's related in a way, do you see as pilots getting more reliant on automated systems, do you see a change in that?

- Yeah, I just think, I mean, fundamentally, automation can't replace good piloting skills.

I mean that is the backbone of the system.

I mean, we're fortunate to have the best pilots in the world, but as you look across the world, the pilot capabilities and training are a big part of the equation as well.

So I think that's another, a huge lesson learned for the industry.

And some of the more developing countries is, how do you elevate pilot skills?

And so I know from a training standpoint, there is a lot of fault being given to that as well.

The automation is great.

And again, there's layers of protection built into that.

And it's a very important design philosophy within all modern aircraft, but at the end of the day, that basic stick and rudder skill is so important.

And, so our pilots is an example.

While you can have automation do a number of things, they frequently get manual landings, take offs, those kind of things that, so they don't lose the skill sets that they all have.

- One of the areas you're responsible for is constant innovations.

So, can you, when you think about what the, major innovations over the last several years you've been there, what comes to mind?

- Yeah, well, we've really tried to lead in our business with innovation and, or philosophically the way we look at it is there's probably two pieces to innovation.

There's what we call, big eye innovation, that kind of disruptive innovation, and then there's little eye innovation.

And those are the things that you can play the game better, but it may not be transformative in that sense.

So we try to do both of those of those.

And, so we've created an innovation center on campus in Georgia Tech and we call it The Hanger.

- Right.

- And, yeah.

We have a mix of Delta people along with Georgia Tech students, they come together and really ideate.

Now we're application led in principles, so we're not really chasing shiny objects.

We're looking for, technology as an application to either solve a problem or improve the experience, or certainly continue to drive the performance in the airline.

And we've been able to innovate on a wide variety of fronts, so, maybe just a couple of examples.

So one is, and we'll typically try to do a small equity investment.

So we've got a corporate venture capital fund.

We're part of Engage, which is really I think the only corporate venture fund for multiple corporations, which is part of united or part of kind of united group around the Atlanta's corporate headquarters.

- Yeah, yeah, Blake guy.

- Yeah, Blake's done an incredible job leading that.

And so we participate in that.

But, so that will give us some preview into things, but we've also looked to, invest in other companies and we source those.

So a couple of examples, we were consumer electronic show and showcase these and literally won best in show for both, which is a tough, tough competitive group.

- Yeah, yeah.

- One is what's called Sarcos, it's really a human augmentation, a suit you put on and it gives you kind of these superpowers to lift things and move things.

And we're a physical environment, right?

If you look outside the window of an aircraft at a gate, you see people throwing bags, moving things, we also have big cargo business, the parts on the aircraft they're big and heavy, and so moving those around as well.

So we'll, we invested in this company and they've really helped us from an ergonomic standpoint, with some game changing technology.

The other company that was interesting is a virtual reality company, if you will.

But this is, so if you're walking through an airport as an example, if look at a sign to see what gate you're going to, you'll see a laundry list of flights and you've gotta pick yours.

- Yeah.

- Well, we found a company that literally we can customize that display for you, and also customize it for me right beside you at the same time.

So as you look at that monitor, you'll see one thing and I'll see something completely different.

So through, whether it's RFID technology, facial biometrics, a number of different API feeds, it will note you and me and distinguish between us and then customize that information and personalize the experience for you.

So the application of this of course is whether it is through the airport or even in all parts of society.

And the folks that went through that at CES were literally blown away with it.

We had actually planned to launch the display technology in March, of course, COVID came out.

So we'll launch that kinda on the back side of that, do a pilot in Detroit airport first.

And we've been doing pilot programs now with the Sarcos technology, in our, what we call our technical operation or maintenance engineering organization to experiment with that.

So we're excited about both of those companies.

There's many others that we've partnered with, but it's a channel of innovation for us, where we're able to try things, again, with a eye towards application.

We've also partnered with a company called Vital Vio, and they've created...

The founder she's amazing person.

And she's created a light bulb that is a disinfecting light bulb.

And in the world of COVID, you can of course see that application.

So we're installing them right now on our 757 fleets in our lavatories.

(upbeat music) - So what would you say is your biggest kind key accomplishment, if you look back at your career, it's kinda like this tremendous career and experience, would you say has been the key to your success, getting you to this point?

- Well, personally, I think it's just ability to work as a team, team member, because I mean in reality is, no one has all the right ideas and it's a process and a team that basically create and execute things that no one person can do.

So I think, that's reflective of kind of my upbringing, played a lot of sports as a kid.

So, all those things I think have helped me a lot.

- What was your sport?

- Well, I played all sports as a kid, you know?

- Yeah.

- This was pre-video era, so there wasn't anything to do but play sports.

So, but basketball was always my favorite, yeah.

- What advice would you have for somebody who is getting their start in college and just getting out of college, whether it's getting to start a business or even mechanical engineering, like what kind of things do you say to them especially these times would away for now?

- Wow, it's a great question.

So I mean, maybe it's more philosophical than anything.

Me it's, I think first of all, work ethics is key, right?

I mean, you should never turn off is the reality of it.

In a way it's not, if you're gonna really make a career and have an impact, it's never a nine to five job, you are taking it home, you're sleeping, thinking about it.

I think that another aspect is learning constantly, because it's something that you should never stop learning 'cause things are always changing, and then be responsible, right?

Manage for results, don't manage activities.

So.

- Right.

- I think, always think about, what are you trying to achieve and find that path rather than just go try to manage for activities.

- Right.

- Again.

- Yeah.

- And I think those are keys to being successful, and then be a team player at the end of the day, don't take credit for the results be a part of the results.

- Yeah.

- And I think that gives people the comfort that you're somebody they want to work with and create with.

And then it's amazing, the doors that open on the backside of that because the reality is, people come and go and do different things, but if you're able to work with people as a team and create results, then boy, people want you to be on the team.

So your career just goes and goes and goes.

- Yeah, I think those are all excellent, excellent points excellent advice.

Gil, it's been really, really fun being with you on this ride.

This has been just fabulous, really a highlight, I've been looking forward to this for a while and I'm excited we just got a chance to do it.

Thank you for being on "TechRides" and thank you for, letting me ride in this beautiful car and just for all the great work you're doing.

It's really great to get to know you.

- Well, thanks Edwin.

Thanks for having me, it's been a pleasure.

- Yeah.

- And certainly enjoyed our ride together.

We'll have to do it again soon.

Thanks.

- Yeah, absolutely.

You got a lot of great cars.

So just pick the next one you wanna ride anytime.

- Okay, well go in an old Volvo.

- Yeah, I love it, love it.

(upbeat music)