Amid a national health crisis, Amtrak is set to seas its 12th president/CEO on April 15. William J. Flynn retired on Jan. 1 as CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. and at 65 has racked up a career spanning ocean shipping, freight railroading, logistics and air cargo.
Some may be hesitant to see another Amtrak president from aviation with no prior passenger rail experience. Many criticized Amtrak’s outgoing CEO, Richard Anderson, for his close ties to the airline industry and limited experience outside that field. Flynn, however, brings a broader background.
From various public sources, Trains News Wire was able to piece together a chronology of Flynn’s career.
Following his undergraduate degree at the University of Rhode Island in 1975 and a master’s degree from the University of Arizona the following year, Flynn joined ocean container shipping company Sea-Land in 1977. CSX acquired Sea-Land in 1986, and in 1999 split the company in three, divesting international shipping operations the same year.
CSX then recruited Flynn, where he worked from 2000 to 2002. His positions included senior vice president for the merchandise service group at CSX Transportation and senior vice president for strategic planning at CSX Corporation.
A Business Wire press release issued by Atlas Air states that Flynn “successfully helped complete the troubled integration of Conrail into CSX, rebuilding and expanding relationships with customers that had been severely impacted by the integration.”
After leaving CSX, Flynn headed GeoLogistics, a privately-held freight forwarder and logistics provider, as its president until 2006, when he became CEO at Atlas Air.
During his 13-year tenure at the air cargo provider, Flynn is credited with growing revenues from $1.5 billion to $2.7 billion through acquisitions and diversification, including expansion into air passenger charter service. Atlas Air employees give Flynn a 54% approval among 80 ratings on Glassdoor, a job recruiting site that encourages anonymous insider reviews.
Flynn has not entirely cut his ties with aviation. As of this writing, he is still listed as chairman of the board of directors of Atlas Air.
Flynn joins Amtrak as it is reeling from a dramatic loss of ridership due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandated stay-at-home policies in many parts of the country. He has faced crisis before: Flynn led Atlas Air through the deep recession of 2008-2009, during which revenues declined 38% as global air cargo shipments tanked. Nevertheless, the company remained profitable throughout 2009 and recovered steadily along with the global economy.
But Flynn will likely be at the controls of the nation’s passenger railroad will beyond the current health crisis. And unlike Atlas Air, Amtrak is not just about profits.
“I would like to see him recognize the public mission of Amtrak,” says Jim Matthews, president of the Rail Passengers Association. “Amtrak is a publicly supported entity, it’s a taxpayer-supported entity and it exists for the public mission of bringing transportation to places where the private sector cannot profitably afford to provide.”
I would like to send a personal email to the new CEO of Amtrak letting him know how dissatisfied I am with their service. I truly believe in trains and will never drive on the CA freeways, but he needs to figure out a way of making these trains run as close to an on time schedule as possible.
When visiting my daughter in Costa Mesa CA., I take the Surf Liner no. 774 which is supposed to arrive at the Oxnard CA station at 10:18am Today it was over 1 hour late!!!! How in the world does Amtrak expect people to remain loyal when each day this train is anywhere between 15minutes late to 1 hour!
On the excursion issue, I also hope this new Head of Amtrak is friendlier toward the operators of those trips, and seeks ways to co-market the Amtrak brand, and not only make the operators of those excursions happy, but seek to improve Amtrak’s public image, then leverage that to increase business.
I hope this new Head of Amtrak understands that one does not woo riders by handing them box lunches, removing snack cars, and other amenities that make the trip more pleasant.
Charles, Paul Reistrup actually did started on the “freight” side of the railroad business with the B&O. Jervis Langdon, B&O President, picked Reistrup to run B&O passenger operation – make it pay its way or get rid of it, so to speak. When C&O took control of B&O, Reistrup was given oversight of the combined passenger operation. The passenger business didn’t have much of a future; Reistrup went back to the freight side, only to be hired away by IC President William Johnson to run that road’s passenger operation. Reistrup’s mission at IC was different. Unlike Langdon, Johnson didn’t care about the railroad. Reistrup was to maintain appearances while getting rid of the trains. I believe Reistrup later moved over to organize IC’s intermodal department and finally became IC and later ICG Senior VP over Freight, Marketing, Industrial Development, and Intermodal. That was the job he had when hired to be Amtrak’s President. Interestingly, Reistrup’s successor at Amtrak was his former boss at IC/ICG, Alan Boyd.
The reason why I said what I did earlier is because, in case you do not know, back in 2018 Amtrak implemented a policy that forbid privately-funded charter excursion trains on its routes. Never mind that the government, via Amtrak, is choosing to pick winners and losers instead of allowing free-market competition that would allow people to choose how to travel. Amtrak should have no more business in steam excursion trains other than providing helper power, as did the private railroads until what happened more than two years ago. As much as I want Amtrak to succeed, it really needs to first stop telling people who don’t want to use it but would rather want to travel by excursion train if they want to take a day trip and are not in a hurry, “No, you can’t do that, you must use us instead.” Also, for the record my name is NOT Mary. It is Wilson. Mary is just my mother’s name as I said in my original comment.
RUPPERT – Skeptical of Flynn? I began this thread a week or so back by suggesting we give the guy a chance. That his background is in flying cargo doesn’t at all mean he can’t manage passenger as well as anyone else.
Paul Reistrup was a freight manager at ICRR before he was transferred to ICRR passenger, perhaps because the company had no other answer to its passenger problem. As it turned out he was quite good at it. Also he came out of a military background.
The military is well-known for moving people around. Just about any top commander has had postings all over the world, sometimes getting a new post after about two or three years.
I saw that it my own career. The only path up was to accept being moved around to unfamiliar work or to an unfamiliar city.
I’m skeptical. It occurs to me that this is like hiring a trucking executive to run Greyhound.
BRADEN – Excellent post., my thoughts exactly. And BTW thanks for the support.
The fact is Amtrak does NOT, repeat does NOT, serve rural America. Amtrak does NOT. Anyone planning a trip from Great Falls (Montana) to Denver? Fargo to Atlanta? Nebraska to Orlando? Midland (Texas) to New York? Good luck on Amtrak. Betcha an airline can get you there! Anywhere in Wyoming or anywhere in South Dakota?
I’ve been looking into air schedules for an upcoming trip in case on or another airline gets shut down or if one of the hubs gets embargoed. Amazing what’s still flying, even now. Instead of a selection of say fifty flights on a given day (direct or transfers) aggregate of all the airlines, my choice is now down to around forty. Amtrak? Zero trains. The nearest Amtrak stop is about 150 miles away – one train pair for the ENTIRE STATE, if I don’t mind leaving in the middle of the night.
Air travel being horrible? My log is now up to about 158 flights, 1966 through 2019. I’ve enjoyed just about every minute of it. Sure beats a winter trip I once took on an Amtrak LD with no heat.
Todd Liebman said:
“Reistrup’s comment about three times a day or go home is not helpful, and should not be latched onto as some sort of gospel. Every market is different. Twice daily in an expanded system with inter connectivity would do wonders. The least expensive way to grow ridership and revenue at the lowest cost is expansion of the long distance network. Twice daily in many places, and strategic connections and some routes that can be easily added would have a huge impact. Comments like either get three times a day or go home is illogical. Also illogical is to believe that it’s feasible to subsidize the airlines to serve rural America. Air travel is unpleasant, as unreliable as Amtrak, capacity is packed to the gills, and air travel is environmentally unsustainable. Amtrak’s sweet spot is not between large cities with ample air service, but between rural and medium sized cities and urban areas. Chicago to Denver has hourly air service. But Lincoln to Denver or Yuma to El Paso are examples of service only Amtrak can reasonably provide. Most normal people will not ride a bus long distance.”
Sir you have falsehoods in your statement here… Air travel is the most convenient way to travel in the US multiple departs/arrivals to pretty much any destination in the US. If air travel were so unreliable. It would not be the leader in passenger miles.. You also state air travel is environmentally unsustainable? Aircraft engines have efficiency rating approaching 60%.. With high bypass fans including axial flow compressor turbofans have made significant strides in fuel economy and quietness due to nozzle duct exhaust shaping and noise reduction shapes used on the rear fan housing.. Rail travel makes sense when you have 3x not 2x service. Morning,Mid, and Evening travel options should be available as people like to travel at times convenient to them. Rail best serves markets up to 500 miles between all major/medium destinations..
Really, Mary? Amtrak is at a critical crossroads and the “only thing” to use your exact term, that you care about is charter and steam?
I’ve been riding Amtrak for 49 years and haven’t given a moment’s thought to either.
The only thing that I, Wilson Billingsley (Mary is my mother’s name, to remind my fellow commenters), want Flynn to do is this: Repeal the ban that “Airline CEO” Anderson implemented back in 2018 on charter and excursion trains, especially steam excursion trains and their locomotives (such as 611), effective IMMEDIATELY.
Reistrup’s comment about three times a day or go home is not helpful, and should not be latched onto as some sort of gospel. Every market is different. Twice daily in an expanded system with inter connectivity would do wonders. The least expensive way to grow ridership and revenue at the lowest cost is expansion of the long distance network. Twice daily in many places, and strategic connections and some routes that can be easily added would have a huge impact. Comments like either get three times a day or go home is illogical. Also illogical is to believe that it’s feasible to subsidize the airlines to serve rural America. Air travel is unpleasant, as unreliable as Amtrak, capacity is packed to the gills, and air travel is environmentally unsustainable. Amtrak’s sweet spot is not between large cities with ample air service, but between rural and medium sized cities and urban areas. Chicago to Denver has hourly air service. But Lincoln to Denver or Yuma to El Paso are examples of service only Amtrak can reasonably provide. Most normal people will not ride a bus long distance.
JEFFREY – Great post from you! David Gunn was the Amtrak CEO most willing to tell the truth about the impossibility of profit. As well, he was the most willing to rock the boat. Which is why he was forced out. If Gunn accomplished nothing else, he’s got to be remembered and praised for getting then-Sen. John S. McCain III to shut his mouth.
So where are we now? Many years after Gunn left, Amtrak is nowhere near GAAP. Amtrak accounting is funny money. If Amtrak were a corporation in the normal sense of the word it would be shut down.
Let’s give the new guy a chance. The corona virus crisis is in effect a new ball game as massive subsidies will no longer be questioned. Flynn has a chance to do some good so lets hope he does.
Money – how much of it and how it’s reported – always seems to come up in discussions and arguments about Amtrak. I hope Flynn will have adopt Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in reporting its financial results. A metric of fare box recovery, as suggested years ago by David Gunn, would be a good tool as well.
We have the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act (Public Law 105-134 dated Dec 2, 1997), the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PL 110-432 dated Oct 16, 2008), and the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (PL 114-94 dated Dec 4, 2015). What do we have to show for it? We have little agreement on what Amtrak should be, what it would cost, and is it worth it for the public good. So Amtrak goes on spending money and fostering endless debates. A sad state of affairs.
Read the comments below: people want better trains at lower ticket prices. Understandable. How is that to be accomplished. Counting the postwar streamliner boom and counting Amtrak, we’ve had seventy years to come up with better trains at lower fares. And here we are.
I can tell you the dividing point: Amtrak’s 1970’s-era Lakeshore Limited was a horror. Then it got better. In 1980, I had a delicious ride on that train. By a few years later the train was mediocre. After 1983 every trip home to my native Massachusetts I’ve driven or flown.
Seventy-one percent of those seventy years has been Amtrak. Amtrak was established to accomplish what the private railroads had flopped at. Dig up the deceased executives of those 1960’s private railroads, they’d say, We told you so! You thought our service was sparse and lousy, look what your Big Government Magic Wand has gotten us!
Of Mr. Flynn’s eleven predecessors, there were two or three placeholders who didn’t particularly care, along with several who weren’t particularly great at it. There were also some very good ones – Reistrup, Claytor, Gunn, maybe even Boardman. Two of those, Reistrup and Gunn, are still alive. Ask them what they think.
Here’s what they would say: If you want trains, whether it’s high-density commuter, whether it’s the NEC, whether it’s a tri-weekly across the southern desert, or whether it’s trains in any other part of the world, drop the pretense of future profitability and write out a budget for perpetual taxpayer subsidies at a very high level.
Also, Reistrup and Gunn would say, increase frequencies or forget it. I recall a ride from York (England) to Reading, a good distance on a secondary routing. Everything went wrong. The train crept through the Leeds and Sheffield as if crippled. Finally the train was annulled at Birmingham and we had to wait for the next train to Reading. In the end I got to Reading two or three hours late. In America I’d have been lucky to get there the next day, if at all.
Am I putting words in their mouths? No I’m not. Paul Reistrup said exactly that. Referring to mid-distance service, Reistrup said 3X daily, minimum, or you’re wasting your time. His words.
Let’s hope this CEO does a better job than Anderson. Let’s bring class and cleanliness back to trains, and AFFORDABLE PRICES. RIDERSHIP IS DOWN BECAUSE NO ONE CAN AFFORD IT ANYMORE, no service, not on time a dirty old cars! Not the way to run any system.
Even before it became necessary to almost frisk passengers before they boarded an airplane, my wife described train travel as travel in civilized comfort. and I agreed with her.
Since I no longer drive, I rode a bus to and from my college’s alumni gathering–six hours each way, including a meal stop at a McDonald’s. No more; I decided the discomfort was not worth the trip, even though I enjoyed seeing my classmates and others who attended.
When I was in college, there were three passenger trains a day each way; the last train there ran in 1969,
Amtrak’s core problem is that it’s stuck in the paradigm of when it was created. At it’s creation, the legislative / regulatory framework for Amtrak laid out was supposed to be temporary. Well, we’re 50 years down the road and it’s still the same.
Those that want Amtrak to be something more need to call out legislatures for their failure to make the needed changes. Chastising the Amtrak CEO is like blaming the the flood on the kid who’s stuck their finger in the hole in the dike.
My husband and I travel the long distance trains frequently we’ve been on all of them except for the capital and the Texas eagle most recently we went from LA to Chicago in March of this year I was a palled to find out that they don’t wash the blankets in between you see my husband and I both had a bedroom I’m second to know that I use the blanket of countless other people unwashed in between It made me feel like saying that they need to get rid of all bedroom cars they need to get rid of the dining cars they need to get rid of the baggage car and be passengers only carry your own baggage with you trains every single person on that train except for the conductor himself had their hand out for a tip if you don’t tip nobody wants to help you so you need to pay your employees enough that they’re not begging for tips
Especially on LD trains – have 20% more capacity than a normal load. Ridership will increase. We have read about the mother and 2 kids riding in two different cars due to no available seats. (Just not right!)
In case no one has been paying attention…the reports from the airline industry is that smaller markets will LOSE their airline services, permanently. There will be a contraction from the airlines in markets they currently serve and there are only two options to replace those services with other than personal vehicles…trains or buses depending on the city pairs and volumes would determine which is the best choice. Get back to me in a year and we can discuss details about growth markets for Amtrak.
Within all the chaff, the sole reason for Amtrak to exist is passenger rail service. The devil is in….
Definitely integrating busses as feeders to a more robust national rail system makes sense. There is no room for cuts to the already skeletal long distance network. Instead, we need to grow ridership with sensible expansion, increased frequency, increased reliability and a strong marketing campaign. There is no sense to replacing trains with busses. Greyhound is struggling mightily itself, and may not survive.