Cruise, the self-governing vehicle technology company owned by GM, announced on Friday the appointment of Gil West, formerly the chief operating officer of Delta Air Lines, as it prepares for initial commercial deployment.

West, who previously retired from Delta last year, will assume the newly created position of chief operating officer at Cruise. This announcement follows more than a month after Cruise initiated trials on public roads utilizing autonomous vehicles without a human safety driver present. While this testing is currently limited to a specific area within San Francisco, and a less busy district of the city, it represents a significant achievement for the company and a crucial step toward obtaining approval for a commercial, ride-sharing service that will generate revenue.

Mr. West brings to Cruise over 12 years of experience in overseeing a substantial global operation with an annual budget of $16 billion. Throughout his career at Delta, he contributed to an increase of more than 15% in the company’s earnings per share annually, and he played a key role in the integration of Northwest Airlines following their merger.

Dan Ammann, CEO of Cruise, who formerly served as president of GM until 2018, stated that West’s demonstrated expertise in customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and safety at a large scale makes him “an ideal candidate for Cruise as we move forward with the commercialization of our autonomous driving technology.”

Cruise had initially planned to launch a commercial service employing “driverless” vehicles by the close of 2019, but revised that schedule—a decision made in conjunction with similar delays announced by other autonomous vehicle companies regarding their own ride-hailing service launches. Cruise has not yet publicly announced a new date for the commencement of its commercial service, which will initially be available in San Francisco.

Cruise, which also receives investment from SoftBank Vision Fund and T. Rowe Price & Associates, maintains a fleet of hundreds of autonomous vehicles; however, the majority still include a human safety driver. In November, Cruise began testing without drivers—meaning the human safety operator was removed from the driver’s seat—using a fleet of five autonomous vehicles. The remaining vehicles in Cruise’s fleet are currently used for standard testing with a human safety driver, and some are utilized to deliver supplies to local food banks.

The California DMV, the state agency responsible for regulating autonomous vehicle testing, granted Cruise a permit in October allowing the company to test five autonomous vehicles without a driver on designated streets within San Francisco. Cruise has held a permit for testing autonomous vehicles with safety drivers since 2015.

In February, Cruise was issued a permit by the California Public Utilities Commission authorizing it to transport passengers in its autonomous vehicles throughout the state. Late last year, the CPUC amended its regulations to permit companies with the appropriate permissions to charge for shared, driverless rides.

According to information available on the CPUC website, Cruise is required to submit data demonstrating 30 days of driverless ride testing before it can become eligible for the CPUC permit.

West’s appointment coincides with the conclusion of this 30-day testing period. He will be responsible for overseeing all of Cruise’s commercial operations, including the management of a fleet of hundreds of vehicles and the provision of customer support.

“Cruise is at the forefront of transforming transportation and challenging conventional norms,” West commented in a statement. “The shift to self-driving technology will be the most significant change in the transportation sector during my lifetime, and I have been preparing throughout my career for an opportunity such as this.”