Gone to Chicago, GM PR's #2, Tony Cervone

He seemed the most likely heir to the coveted PR throne at General Motors Corp., but instead, 46-year-old Tony Cervone is decamping from Detroit and heading over to Chicago, where he’ll become chief communications officer and senior vice president of UAL Corp., the parent of United Airlines.

Why, well Cervone isn’t saying publicly. But there are plenty of reasons to speculate. Certainly, there’s a big opportunity in the Windy City, both as a great place to live, and also to take on a good job at an airline that’s already gone through its financial meltdown and is now showing signs of recovery.

As second-in-command to Steve Harris – who himself came out of retirement for a limited turn as GM’s media relations boss – Cervone was generally perceived to be the man in line for the top job. And there was little to indicate he’d fallen out of favor with CEO Rick Wagoner, who would have to sign off on Harris’s eventual replacement.

Staying in Detroit, in this bitter cold winter of discontent, however, Cervone faced the prospect of flacking for a company in seemingly endless meltdown. There was a time when being GM’s PR chief made you one of the most powerful people in American industry, arguably in the country, as a whole. But the failure of GM and cross-town rival, Chrysler, to convince Congress to approve a bailout bill, last December – forcing the White House to step in – underscores the giant automaker’s loss of power and prestige.

Even the corporate jets are going, one of the last perks of the business.

Who’ll replace Cervone is unclear. Harris will add his duties to his own, for the time being, GM says. One thing is clear, the PR rolls are thinning out fast at GM – and its Big Three brethren. All the domestic makers have been forced to slash the flak ranks, particularly in recent months, as cash flow has plunged to the crucial level. Barely a week ago, Ford ousted a handful of veteran PR executives, including Tom Hoyt, one of the department’s most senior managers.

Don’t expect Cervone and Hoyt to be the last to go, whether they first find refuge elsewhere, or leave with a pink slip in their hands.