I met Tim this time last year and as the e-mail states, he was the VP of regional ops for NW...so this seems logical being that Delta is skaking up NW management.
Personally, I have no knowledge on the subject but feel that this could mean good things for Compass since Tim is a "higher" level exec now running Compass.
I would say however, this was a total surprise. No rumors circulating before the fact about this one!