Blog 
I have a friend who has been flying as a Captain for United Airlines for a couple of decades. When I last flew with him just before the pandemic, he spoke highly of the former CEO, Oscar Munoz. I was pleasantly surprised because pilots and their unions seldom have good terms with airline management. I remember him telling me that Oscar is genuine, which comes through in his interactions with rank-and-file staff.
I spoke with Oscar recently about his new book documenting his journey at United Airlines, and he shared a story that touched a chord.
Within five years, United was flying high, achieving top-tier reliability and profits, winning back customer loyalty and earning the praise of each of its major union leaders.
Most importantly, frontline employees were finally flying together as a team, after the turmoil of a merger that finally was ratified eight years to the day after it was begun. Today, Oscar remains beloved by the rank-and-file of United Airlines for his authenticity, faith in his employees, and for turning the company around by creating a New Spirit of United.
Oscar took the helm of a United that was flying through very turbulent skies, and was anything but United.
A stalled merger, dismal operational and financial performance, tortured labor relations and rock-bottom customer satisfaction and employee morale meant United was in freefall.
Within five years, United was flying high, achieving top-tier reliability and profits, winning back customer loyalty and earning the praise of each of its major union leaders. Most importantly, frontline employees were finally flying together as a team, after the turmoil of a merger that finally was ratified eight years to the day after it was begun.
Oscar credits his employees for pulling off the airline comeback story of all time, and it began with a Wall Street-defying strategy to put employees first, as the foundation of rebuilding.
Lessons learned from a PR Crisis
He was bold enough to share the three lessons he learned from the Dr Dao incident United Airlines faced.
Long-time followers of SimpliFlying would recall that we became one of the first companies to ban travel on United following the unfortunate handling of a passenger. We all watched Oscar’s response closely as an industry at that time. It has been quite the turnaround at United – and it started with Oscar. It was good to hear him speak about how he took the incident in his stride, took personal responsibility and led from the front.
Behind the scenes, another personal drama was unfolding. On Day 37 of his tenure, he suffered a massive heart attack. He woke from a coma only to fight for his job, fend off a proxy battle from activist investors, manage PR crises, all while learning the three-dimensional chess game that is required to obtain a heart transplant. As CEO, then Chairman, he also led negotiations for the CARES Act, and helped marshal the airline sector response to Covid.
Getting an early start in sustainability
Several United Airlines’ sustainability initiatives have become industry-leading today – from its investment in eVTOL startup Archer to its appointment of a “Chief Trash Officer”.
“Do you believe there’s something going on regarding climate change on our planet?”
Oscar Munoz
Listeners on my podcast would remember my interview with current CEO Scott Kirby about sustainability. Oscar shed some light on how it all got started.
While many may think that Oscar’s best legacy was hiring Scott Kirby as his successor at United Airlines, there’s a lot more to the story. In his book, Turnaround Time, Oscar Munoz dives deep into each of the issues we discussed and more.
In fact, my full interview with Oscar with a much more detailed conversation will debut on on opening episode of Season 4 of my podcast, Sustainability In The Air.
Today, Oscar remains beloved by the rank-and-file of United Airlines for his authenticity, faith in his employees, and for turning the company around by creating a New Spirit of United.