United CEO Oscar Munoz will step down in May and be replaced by current United president Scott Kirby, United announced Thursday.
Having served as CEO for more than five years, Munoz in a statement said that "now is the right time to begin passing the baton to a new leader." Munoz recruited Kirby to United in 2016 from American Airlines, where he had served in the same position since its 2013 merger with US Airways and as president of US Airways for the seven years prior.
"I am confident that there is no one in the world better equipped to lead United to even greater heights," Munoz said.
Munoz stepped into the CEO position in September 2015 following the abrupt departure of former president and CEO Jeff Smisek, who had led the carrier since its merger with Continental but resigned amid an internal investigation related to a federal corruption probe. Munoz had served on United's and Continental's boards for 11 years but was otherwise an outsider to the airline industry, joining United from rail transportation company CSX.
His first years in the job presented some challenges. A heart attack and subsequent heart transplant sidelined him for about five months shortly after he took the job. About a year later, Munoz and United faced intense public scrutiny following the viral video showing the forcible ejection of 69-year-old David Dao after he was involuntarily bumped from his flight. At the time, rumors abounded that Munoz was not long for his job.
Since then, however, United has seen a significant turnaround under Munoz and Kirby, strengthening its network from its hubs and improving operational and financial performance. BTN's 2019 Airline Surveyshowed significant gains in corporate travel buyer sentiment toward the airline as well.
"When I joined United as CEO, I laid out ambitious goals to build a new spirit of United by regaining the trust of our employees and customers, and I'm proud of how far we've come," according to Munoz. "Along with the successful implementation of the plan our team laid out in January 2018, United's operational and financial performance isn't just better—it's better than ever."
United also improved labor relations under Munoz.
"Oscar Munoz fought against all odds to rescue United from being torn apart and return it to premier status in the industry," Association of Flight Attendants-CWA president Sara Nelson said in a tweet on Thursday. Years earlier, she had said her union had "rarely experienced a CEO as engaged or committed to the success of an airline" and that he was "shaping up to be the best CEO at United Airlines since William Patterson."
Atypically among airline CEOs, Munoz in recent years become a public face at United, making humorous cameos in the carrier's safety videos, for example. At United's sponsored party during the Global Business Travel Association's convention in Chicago this year, he held court for much of the evening, chatting and posing for pictures with travel buyers.
"Everything we're doing at United, the foundation of it was Oscar coming in, when I wasn't there, and changing the culture with the front-line employees," Kirby said at the ARC TravelConnect conference in October. "He's the hardest-working CEO I've ever known. The guy spends 80 hours a week flying all over the world, talking to employees in big cities and small cities, and the employees love him, and they love him for a reason: He cares about them."
Following his departure as CEO, Munoz will serve a one-year term as the executive chairman of United's board, continuing to work with Kirby. The board's current chair, former U.S. Federal Aviation Administration administrator Jane Garvey, will retire from the board at that time.
At the ARC event, Kirby called Munoz a "true mentor," saying that soon after joining United, Munoz sat down with him and offered feedback on his leadership skills, which he said was the first time in his career that anyone had done so. During the conference, he said he had been promised the CEO position at American Airlines upon CEO Doug Parker's retirement on a set date, but that plan was rescinded three months later. His departure to United followed soon afterward.
He also at that time quashed any speculation that he might return to American, making a declaration that has even more weight in light of today's news.
"United Airlines is the place where I am going to end my career," Kirby said.
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