Well he should know this industry by now, he's been around a long time.

He was one of Frank Lorenzo's Lawyers at CAL, when he took Eastern apart.


This is clipped from a Yahoo career history search:


We also find that Richard Anderson wasn't confined to simply one aspect of the airline industry but had worked in many different departments which further increased his knowledge. Everything from recruiting to compliance was in his bag of tricks. Consider the following:

"Harris County Criminal Court, Texas, 1978-1987, chief counsel, then assistant district attorney; Continental Airlines, 1987-1990, staff vice president and deputy general counsel; Northwest Airlines, 1990-1994, vice president and deputy general counsel; 1994-1996, senior vice president of labor relations; 1997-1998, senior vice president of technical operations and airport affairs; 1998, executive vice president of technical operations, flight operations, and airport affairs; 1998-2001, executive vice president and COO of facilities, airport affairs, and regulatory compliance; 2001-2007 CEO" (Answer.com, 2006). In 2007 he moved to Delta Airlines as CEO.