“I am thrilled to return full-time to a job and the employees I love. Since September when I became CEO, our team has been focused on our employees, improving the operation and the customer experience, and the results are starting to show. In fact, over the past several months United has emerged as a top performer in on-time arrivals and completion factor among our largest industry peers. I am grateful to our 85,000 aviation professionals around the world at United for running such a great airline and taking care of our customers.”
Those are the words of Oscar Munoz — who is the president and chief executive officer of United Airlines — pertaining to this announced his return of resuming all of his duties and responsibilities in a full-time capacity effective as of Monday, March 14, 2016 after being sidelined due to suffering from a heart attack on Thursday, October 15, 2015 and undergoing a procedure for a heart transplant.
During that time, Brett J. Hart was appointed as interim chief executive officer by the board of directors of United Airlines while Munoz — who shared an update on his health in November of 2015 — was on medical leave.
Despite concerns that the health of Munoz will prevent him from being fully involved with performing his duties and responsibilities at full capacity, Henry L. Meyer III — who is the non-executive chairman of the board of directors of United Continental Holdings, Incorporated — said, “The Board is confident in the strength and potential of United’s business — and very pleased that Oscar will be returning to the roles of President and Chief Executive Officer on a full-time basis. We expect him to continue leading the company’s improving operational and financial performance, driving increased shareholder value, and innovating and elevating United’s customer and employee experience.”
Summary
“Our progress isn’t just limited to the operation. Financially, we have been performing well. United’s 2015 earnings were one of the best in the Company’s history, and we made significant progress shrinking the margin gap with our closest competitors, strengthening our balance sheet, and returning significant cash to shareholders. United spent $1.2 billionrepurchasing shares in 2015 and plans to spend $1.5 billion on share repurchases in the first quarter of 2016. We have a lot of positive momentum, but this is just the beginning. There is significant work underway and we see substantial upside yet to come.”
As evidenced by that statement, Oscar Munoz is optimistic about the future of United Airlines and of his health; and although I never met him, I wish him all of the best — but it remains to be seen whether or not he is really up to the task of taking on and completing his mission of implementing his vision of the transition of United Airlines.
Source: United Airlines.
