(Photo by nevermindtheend)

Neal Cohen didn’t even make it to the first day on the job. The longtime airline industry financial executive and WMATA have “mutually agreed” to end negotiations to become Metro’s new general manager, WMATA Board Chairman Mort Downey said in a statement today.

“The executive recruitment process to determine who will lead WMATA remains ongoing, and discussions with candidates are actively underway,” Downey said. “For that reason, we will not comment further on the search, except to say that the Board remains committed to completing the process as quickly as possible.”

The beleaguered transit agency has thus far been wildly unsuccessful in finding a permanent replacement for Richard Sarles, who announced his retirement more than a year ago.