United Continental Holdings has appointed a new chairman and
two new board members, settling a dispute with investors Altimeter Capital and
Par Capital.
United's board elected Robert Milton, former CEO of Air
Canada and its previous parent company ACE Aviation Holdings, as nonexecutive
chairman, effective following its annual meeting later this year. Current nonexecutive
chairman Henry Meyer and two other directors will retire from the board at that
time.
Milton joined the board March 6, alongside former Delta Air
Lines COO James Whitehurst and former T. Rowe Price Group president and CEO
James A.C. Kennedy. Now, the board has added former Orbitz Worldwide CEO Barney
Harford and Par managing partner Edward Shapiro and plans to add a third independent
director within six months. Half of United's board is new since the beginning
of March.
As such, Par and Altimeter, which collectively
own 7.1 percent of United's outstanding shares, are withdrawing their intention
to nominate six director candidates at the annual meeting. They had listed a
slate of nominees they planned to nominate, including Harford and former
Continental CEO Gordon Bethune.