Northwest Airlines Appoints Two Senior Executives In Customer Service And International

Northwest Airlines today announced that Robert Isom has been named senior vice president-customer service, replacing Dirk McMahon.

Fred Deschamps, currently managing director-finance and administration-Pacific, will be promoted to vice president and replace Isom as vice president-international. The appointments are effective April 25.

“We are very disappointed that Dirk has decided to leave Northwest Airlines. He has been an important member of the senior management team and led the airline’s drive to deploy technology and improve customer service at all locations,” said Richard Anderson, chief executive officer.

“Dirk’s operations knowledge and leadership skills were key drivers of our success in two major initiatives: managing the airline's ground operations after September 11 and operating our new WorldGateway terminal at Detroit. During his 18 years of service to Northwest, Dirk’s contributions have been extraordinary. He has been a great colleague and friend to all of us and to me personally. We wish him every success,” Anderson added.

“A continuing Northwest hallmark is its executive bench strength as evidenced by Robert Isom, whose strong operational experience both at Northwest and America West make him a logical successor to Dirk McMahon. Robert returns to the U.S. after overseeing our international operations in the Pacific.”

“Robert inherits a great customer service team that is focused on making our customers’ travel experiences as hassle-free and efficient as possible,” Anderson added.

Since August 2001, Isom has been vice president-international, responsible for the company’s Pacific Division administrative, financial and operations functions. He also had commercial responsibility for Pacific operations outside of Japan.

Isom rejoined Northwest in 2000 from America West Airlines where he held executive positions in operations, finance and revenue management.

Before America West, he worked for Northwest from 1991 through 1995 in positions of increasing responsibility in strategy and finance. From 1987 through 1989, Isom held customer service and logistics management  positions at Procter & Gamble.

Fred Deschamps has been managing director–finance and administration for Northwest’s Pacific Division in Tokyo since 2000. Since joining Northwest in 1992, Deschamps has served as director–international pricing & revenue management and held positions in international yield management and revenue planning. Prior to joining Northwest, he was a  computer systems consultant for Computer Science Corporation (CSC).

Commenting on Deschamps’ promotion, Phil Haan, executive vice president of international, sales and information services, said, “Fred’s eleven years of international experience with our airline will be invaluable as Northwest continues to execute its strategic long-term growth plan in the Asia/Pacific region.”

Isom has undergraduate degrees in mechanical engineering and english from the University of Notre Dame, and a master’s in business administration degree from the University of Michigan.

Deschamps holds a master’s in business administration degree from The Kellogg School at Northwestern University, and a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and economics from Macalester College.