Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Smisek steps down from United Airlines

United Continental Holdings, Inc. announced Tuesday that it has named Oscar Munoz as president and chief executive officer. Munoz will also continue to serve on United's board of directors. The board appointed Henry Meyer III, United's lead independent director, to serve as non-executive chairman of the board of directors. The company also announced that Jeff Smisek has stepped down from his roles as chairman, president and chief executive officer, and as a director. These changes are effective immediately.

Munoz brings to this role deep and broad experience in the transportation industry and large consumer brands including AT&T, Pepsico and The Coca-Cola Company. He most recently served as president and chief operating officer of CSX Corp.

"Oscar's track record demonstrates that he has the right blend of strategic vision and strong leadership to continue United's upward trajectory,” said Henry Meyer. “United is well positioned to continue executing on its strategic plan to further improve performance and the value and service it provides to its customers.”

"United has an incredible opportunity for improving an experience that is essential to the vitality of global business and to the personal lives of millions of people," said Munoz.

Prior to joining United Airlines, Munoz served as president and chief operating officer of CSX Corp., a premier transportation company. Munoz also served as a director at CSX. During Munoz's tenure, CSX transformed itself into an industry leader in customer focus, reliability and financial performance. CSX was named one of Institutional Investor's Most Honored Companies for a decade of excellent financial performance, including increasing its operating income by nearly 600 percent.

He has served on the board of directors for United Continental Holdings, Inc. since 2010 and served on the board of directors of Continental Airlines, Inc. since 2004. Munoz is active in several industry coalitions and philanthropic and educational organizations including the University of North Florida's board of trustees and the PAFA advisory board of Vanderbilt University.

Munoz graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor's degree in business administration, and he received a master's in business administration from Pepperdine University.

The company also announced that its executive vice president of communications and government affairs and its senior vice president of corporate and government affairs have stepped down. The departures announced Tuesday are in connection with the company's previously disclosed internal investigation related to the federal investigation associated with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The investigations are ongoing and the company continues to cooperate with the government.

The company's internal investigation and the related circumstances do not raise any accounting or financial reporting concerns, United said,

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