davie355

From Munoz's letter to employees, posted upstream:

csyoung49

With the direction United is headed, this is welcome news. If I was at an airport right now I'd high five some United Employees.

MrAndy1369

Wow. Unexpected news; am stunned, but hoping that UA will finally get its act together and things will improve. Time shall tell.

Definitely didn't see this coming today, of all days.

halls120

Now we know why Rainey took the last train to the coast.

McTigerFan

To the many here who used Jeff as the personification of changes they didn't like, having him leave in this manner was probably not the best result. A change at the top coming from a recognition that the brand and business had been damaged by his team's policies would have led to a succession plan premised on rebuilding customer relationships. This departure may lead to a succession plan based on status quo operations and policies. Many here will hate that airline just as much, and will end up just hating his successor.

cerealmarketer

Here is the full text of Oscar's letter

http://www.scribd.com/doc/279543597/...-Oscar-Munoz-1

You will like that he says you win or lose customers every day based on "the slightest change."

Whether the Street lets him follow through on that...

I'm not intimately familiar with the case (we all will be in the coming weeks) - but from the surface appears Jeff agreed to 'look into' a route requested by the Port Authority official. UA came back and said 'no, not profitable for us.'

The official then stonewalled approval of a project.

And Jeff's direct reports had a hand in getting the route ultimately approved. Then just after the official stepped down, the route got cut.

Guess it will come down to how savvy he was about being in or out of the loop on traceable media.

If the official isn't given the most harsh penalty would be surprised.

BTA

the first one that i'm aware of.


Well played sir

jrkmsp

Probably fears over what the costs of a federal bribery indictment would be....

davidash

The skies are truly friendly tonight! I for one am happy Jeff is out, now bring back the laid off baggage hanlers --

Bear4Asian

This would obviously be welcome, but for the life of me this seems like the first thing any leader should do.

And they should add secret fliers to get a real look at the experience.

demkr

A change we will like... Hallelujah!

LEONIDES

Smisek leaveing? Here was my immediate response:


I wanted to post portions of MLK's "Free At Last" speech, but some may find that offensive.

Has anyone posted Handel's Messiah yet? Here it is:


These really are some changes I am going to like! These changes really are Flyer Friendly! (For those of you playing the "Flyer Friendly" drinking game, take 2 shots.)

Now one day, we may see Smisek traveling in coach, with the rest of us over-entitled 1Ks.

The Houston media is already speculating that this is because of the federal investigation into the PANYNJ.

http://www.chron.com/business/articl...ve-6491426.php

Honestly, I only care marginally. The bottom line is that he is gone, and to paraphrase Gerald Ford, "Our long national nightmare is over." But wouldn't it be great to see Jeff and his pals do a "perp walk" one day? I would pay good money to see that!

JBord

I think you're exactly right...

+1
No other reason for this type of announcement, in this fashion. Even a CEO firing for performance has a planned transition period.

I broke into applause here in my home office

That said, I think we'll see a short term boost in employee morale, but it wouldn't surprise me if things get worse for passengers before they get better. It would be a different story if he were fired for performance, we'd see several short term gives to prove to customers that things are changing. My guess is it's status quo for the next year while they sort out some of the legal issues here.

Not the way I wanted to see him go, but I echo the sentiment that it's finally a change I like.

cerealmarketer

Indeed though am guessing they had about a month or more to plan (of course a lot shorter than a true succession).

Bethune on his Facebook page last week thanked Jeff for letting him get one last 757 simulator ride.

And Bethune's health is just fine.

He also was very ready to get on CNBC and defend Jeff this afternoon...

I'll bet Jeff made this call to resign himself. He's a savvy lawyer - knows the process. And hand picked Munoz who has been sitting in the room the whole time.

Jwebber57

Oh my......