Amtrak, the national passenger railroad that has been struggling to maintain its tracks in New York City, said Monday that it had chosen an airline industry veteran to be its next chief executive.

Amtrak’s board named Richard Anderson, a former chairman and chief executive of Delta Air Lines, to succeed Charles Moorman as Amtrak’s chief this year. Until Dec. 21, the two men will serve as co-chief executives, Amtrak said.

The decision came during a challenging period for Amtrak, which has been the target of harsh criticism from elected officials in the New York area for its decision to curtail train service in and out of Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan for nearly all of July and August. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has called for Amtrak to surrender control of Penn Station, which Amtrak owns and operates. Mr. Cuomo and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey have threatened to withhold payments to Amtrak for the use of its rails.

Mr. Anderson, 62, is scheduled to start his new job on July 12, which would be Day 3 of what Mr. Cuomo has warned could be a “summer of hell” for commuters. All three railroads that use Penn Station — Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit — plan to reduce their services there by as much as 25 percent to allow for track repairs.