United Airlines Alters Senior Executive Team

<B>United Airlines Alters Senior Executive Team</B>

United Airlines last month announced a series of executive appointments in a reshuffling of senior management aimed at improving customer satisfaction and supporting carrier growth. Frank Kent, previously managing director of the Northern California region, replaced Joe Laughlin as vice president of sales.

Laughlin said Kent, with whom he has worked for 20 years, has a clear understanding of the corporate travel market from his experience in one of the more heavily concentrated areas of United's key corporate accounts. "He also understands the situation--shrinking corporate expenditures, particularly apparent in the Bay Area," Laughlin added.

As head of the sales team, Kent will have to address such issues as continuing corporate travel weakness nationwide, alliance contracting, account defection to chief rival American Airlines and concerns raised by corporate clients related to the unsettled merger proposal with US Airways.

Kent, in almost 35 years at United, has been responsible on a regional level for sales, marketing, reservations and customer service.

Laughlin, meanwhile, was tapped for a newly created position, vice president of reservations. "We have centralized all 17 reservation offices and are positioning them to grow globally," Laughlin said. "We have been working on each customer touch point--reducing hassles at the airport, improving onboard services--and reservations, of course, is a natural one to look at." Laughlin added that he will miss the daily contact with corporate customers he has had for nearly 14 years, but is excited to be at the head of a PNL unto itself. "We will be putting a heavy focus on selling to the customer and are looking at incorporating technological advances to increase the efficiency of our own agents."

Meanwhile, as previously announced, Stuart Oran will vacate his post of vice president of international to head up United's recently announced business aircraft division (BTN, May 7). Graham Atkinson, previously vice president of marketing, moves over to become vice president of international, with added responsibilities covering alliances. Filling the senior marketing position is Larry DeShon, who had been vice president of customer satisfaction.

Other changes include Montie Brewer's switch from vice president of alliances to senior vice president of planning. The carrier said that move will allow Doug Hacker, executive vice president and CFO, "to focus more of his attention on United's new business opportunities in private aviation.