Frequent fliers hope United shake-up cures airliner’s ills
New CEO Munoz vows to make skies friendly to fly again
Tuesday’s abrupt resignation of United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek comes amid a federal investigation that has raised the specter of political patronage and allegations of corruption in New Jersey.
But for United’s customers, interest in the airline’s executive shake-up is more basic: “What will it mean for us?”
The ouster of Smisek and two other company executives follows a series of IT breakdowns — two this summer — that have snarled flights and frayed passengers’ nerves since United’s merger with Continental in 2011. United’s overall operations have bogged down, with poor on-time arrival rates and above-average customer complaint rates, according to federal Department of Transportation data.
Though United cited the ongoing federal investigation in revealing Smisek’s departure, he had become the target for many of the airline’s customers who had grown frustrated with its recent performance.
“The CEO of a company is always going to be a lightning rod for complaints when things go poorly or the hero when things go well,” says Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst at San Francisco-based Atmosphere Research Group. “Fliers were optimistic when the airlines merged, and now they have become disappointed in its execution.”
Many customers tell USA TO- DAY they welcome the change in leadership. But does it portend a new direction for the airline?
That’s one of the issues facing incoming CEO Oscar Munoz as he takes over from Smisek, who had indeed become a lightning rod for customers’ complaints.
“It’s been amazing to read the amount of vitriol directed at Smisek on message boards from customers and employees and how much utter glee there is at his departure,” says Rob Schickler of Nashville, a former elite-level United customer who says he has taken his business to American because of United’s struggles.
Schickler — repeating a sentiment common among United customers via social media — puts much of the blame for United’s current customer-service issues on Smisek. Smisek took over as United’s CEO as part of the 2010 merger, moving over from the same role at Continental.
Munoz pledged to make customer service a priority, saying he would travel through United’s route network to talk to employees about what is working and about what could make things better for customers.
“At United, I will dedicate myself to making our airline flyerfriendly,” Munoz said in a Tuesday letter introducing himself to the company’s 84,000 workers.
Harteveldt says Munoz’ first task should be to “focus on improving on-time reliability. If you don’t have a reliable airline, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have an airline people will want to fly.”
Harteveldt also suggests United customers should temper their hope for a quick fix.