Orbitz picks Delta executive as CFO, its fourth (or fifth) in last two years

Founded by five legacy airlines, Orbitz tapped the controller of one of them, Delta Air Lines, and appointed him chief financial officer.

Orbitz hired Michael Randolfi, Delta’s controller, and he will start as Orbitz Worldwide CFO on March 11, 2013, the company said.

Randolfi will be Orbitz’s fifth CFO, if you count an interim CFO who stepped in twice, in a little more than two years.

Randolfi, who gets a $100,000 signing bonus and base salary of $360,000, replaces David Belmont, who served as interim CFO since Mitch Marcus left the CFO post abruptly in January, after serving for a little more than five months.

Belmont, who finished his second stint as interim CFO, returns to his position as group vice president, financial planning and analysis. He also served as interim CFO from June to November 2012.

There has been a revolving door in the Orbitz CFO office since Marsha Williams resigned, effective December 31, 2010.

Williams was succeeded by Russell Hammer, who departed in June 2012, to become CFO of Brown Shoe Co.

It’s ironic, but not necessarily problematic, that Orbitz hired a CFO with deep airline experience despite the fact that the company’s achilles heel is that it has been unable to springload its hotel business.

Orbitz was founded in 2001 by American, Continental, Northwest, Delta and United airlines.