United Airlines Appoints New President

United Airlines Appoints New President

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United Airlines has just named Brett J. Hart as the new President of the company, as he’ll be taking over the role as of next week.

Munoz retires, Kirby takes over as CEO

In late 2019 it was announced that as of May 20, 2020, Scott Kirby would take over as CEO of United Airlines, replacing Oscar Munoz.

That development hadn’t come as a surprise — Kirby was recruited to United Airlines in August 2016, as he previously held the role of President at American. It’s pretty clear that he had a path to CEO at United, which he lacked at American (despite allegedly having previously been told otherwise).

While Munoz probably has a reasonably good legacy at United, ultimately the area where he did well was with employees, rather than being someone with a deep knowledge of the airline industry, or terribly effective otherwise. For all practical purposes Kirby has already been calling the shots for quite a while.

The fact that Munoz is continuing with his retirement during this pandemic only reinforces that — we’re seeing other airline CEOs who were due to retire stay onboard through this pandemic, while Munoz is continuing with his original plans.

Hart appointed as United Airlines President

Brett J. Hart will serve as president of United Airlines as of May 20, 2020.

He has been at United Airlines since 2010 and currently serves as United’s Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. In October 2015 he even served as interim CEO for six months while Munoz recovered from a heart transplant.

As the decision is described, the company hopes to leverage Hart’s regulatory and strategic expertise, which complements Kirby’s commercial acumen and industry experience.

As President, Hart will:

  • Lead public advocacy strategy, including government affairs, corporate communications, legal, and community engagement teams
  • Oversee corporate real estate, and manage United’s environmental sustainability efforts, resources, and labor relations

As Munoz describes this appointment:

“Brett is a well-established and widely respected leader who has established a strong track record, over the last decade, helping United navigate complex challenges across all areas of our business. He is recognized inside and outside of the airline industry for his leadership and has played a central role in shaping our strategy, culture and leading our community engagement around the world.”

Meanwhile Kirby had the following to say about the appointment:

“Working closely with Brett over the last 3 years, I have seen first-hand his thoughtful and intellectually rigorous approach to navigating the complex environment in which we operate and effectively implementing our business strategy. The leadership Brett has shown as we have managed the current crisis reinforces the conclusion I reached last year: Brett is exactly the leader that United needs right now to take on the role of President.”

Bottom line

Hart seems like a logical choice for the new role of President at United. It sure seems to me like they chose someone who complements Kirby well, rather than someone who could potentially replace Kirby.

That makes sense, since United has a lot of faith in Kirby (maybe a bit too much?) and he’s only in his early 50s, so realistically he could be in his current role for quite a while.

While United is promoting from within here, they chose someone who doesn’t have the direct airline and industry experience that Kirby has, as Hart has basically been focused on most of the non-operational parts of the business.

What do you make of Hart’s new role at United Airlines?

Conversations (12)
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  1. ptahcha Member

    Ummm... Munoz is not retiring. He will become the executive chair of the BOD.

  2. glenn t Diamond

    Using the middle initial of one's name is a peculiarly American thing, as is Jnr., Snr., II, lll, lV and so on.

  3. Eskimo Guest

    I didn't expect to hijack this into a wrestling throwback. But what the heck. Here goes another.
    Unions and management, Let's get ready to crumble!"

    @Sam

    I wonder what is the reason to use middle initial for Donald J. Trump. Not that there is another famous or infamous Donald Trump.

  4. Christian Guest

    He can't do worse than his predecessor.

  5. Sam Member

    There's a reason he uses his middle initial. Same with actor Michael B. Jordan and former Navy secretary Richard V. Spencer.

  6. Richard Guest

    I'm glad to see that some other readers appreciate the irony of United making "The Hit Man" their president.

  7. UA-NYC Diamond

    I will also chime in with my version of the joke - Looks like Kirby now has a designated Hit Man to enact more MP desecration

  8. Stanley Guest

    @Eskimo and Andre Me Three

  9. UAL756 Guest

    United’s new president...Best there is, best there was and best there ever will be!

    Glad I’m not the only one having nostalgia over that name.

  10. Andre New Member

    @Eskimo —

    I was thinking WWF’s Brett “The Hitman” Hart too. :D

  11. Former UA1K Guest

    I don't mean to give a lecture or bore some readers, but it is not important who would be the President, but rather the changes UA has made since late last year. Those changes do not work for me and maybe some others. Time will tell if UA's business strategies head to the right or wrong direction. As for me a 1K who resides in Asia, the new UA policies do not work well for me so I already parted way with UA. This is only personal opinion.

  12. Eskimo Guest

    So Hart was an interim CEO while Munoz recovered from a heart transplant.
    United is full of PUN stuff.

    Not to mention, who here thought of WWF Brett Hart in the pink tights.

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ptahcha Member

Ummm... Munoz is not retiring. He will become the executive chair of the BOD.

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glenn t Diamond

Using the middle initial of one's name is a peculiarly American thing, as is Jnr., Snr., II, lll, lV and so on.

0
Eskimo Guest

I didn't expect to hijack this into a wrestling throwback. But what the heck. Here goes another. Unions and management, Let's get ready to crumble!" @Sam I wonder what is the reason to use middle initial for Donald J. Trump. Not that there is another famous or infamous Donald Trump.

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