Hunter Harrison took a medical leave from his role as chief executive of eastern railroad CSX effective 14 December after complications from a recent illness.
The sudden move raises questions about what will happen to the company's operating performance without Harrison. He is the industry architect of the precision scheduled railroading model that he was attempting to deploy at the carrier.
Chief operating officer James Foote, who took over last month in the wake of several executive departures and knew Harrison from their time together at Canadian National, will take over as acting chief executive during Harrison's leave.
Foote said the carrier's implementation of precision scheduled railroading would not be impacted by Harrison's abrupt departure.
"I do not see any reason to diminish our expectations concerning the pace and magnitude of our future progress," Foote said.
Shippers and regulators have been critical of the carrier's implementation of the new operating plan that has shifted traffic flows and delivery schedules, in many instances with little or no notice to customers, since Harrison took over earlier this year.
Harrison has been in poor health for several months and appeared frail at some public appearances, most notably the Surface Transportation Board's 11 October listening session into the carrier's service problems. He said on the company's third quarter earnings call that succession planning was on the minds of board members and investors and that he hoped to announce something at the company's investor day. That was later cancelled after three top executives left and Foote was brought in.
The company will host a call at 7:30am ET on 15 December to provide investors and others with additional information about Harrison's condition and the company's plans moving forward.
