Gerald ("Jerry") Grinstein (born 1932) is an American businessman, the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Delta Air Lines.
[2] While at the helm of BN, Grinstein adopted a new paint scheme for the railroad's executive office car train.
[5] Grinstein embarked on a number of cost-cutting measures, including a major out-of-court restructuring of the company's long term debt and outsourcing of some heavy aircraft maintenance and ramp handling operations.
[6] In negotiations with ALPA, the Delta pilots' union, he secured deep concessions in order to help the company stave off bankruptcy.
He granted himself an annual salary of $450,000 with no bonuses or stock options, well below the multimillion-dollar compensation packages accepted by Mullin and his top executives at a time when Delta was losing billions of dollars.
Although these initiatives were largely successful, upward pressure on fuel prices and fierce competition from low-cost carriers continued to keep Delta perilously close to bankruptcy.
Hurricane Katrina resulted in a dramatic spike in jet fuel prices in Atlanta, which houses Delta's largest hub operation.