Jeff Smisek Steps Down at United Airlines

Jeff Smisek has stepped down as chairman, president, chief executive officer and a director of United Continental Holdings, parent of United Airlines, effective immediately.

Oscar Munoz, who was president and chief operating officer of CSX Corp., a rail, container shipping and trucking firm, was named president and chief executive officer. Munoz also will continue to serve on United’s board of directors.

Henry L. Meyer III, United’s lead independent director, will serve as non-executive chairman of the board of directors.

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. United did not name the executives, but they are Nene Foxhall and Mark Anderson, respectively.

The departures are in connection with the company’s previously disclosed internal investigation related to a federal investigation associated with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The investigations are ongoing and the company said it continues to cooperate with the government on whether the carrier operated a nonstop route between Newark and South Carolina for the former chairman of the Port Authority in return for favors.

But there have been previous calls for Smisek to step down that have no connection to the corruption probe.

The former CEO of Continental presided over the 2010 merger with United, a bumpy affair that was punctuated by the March 2012 cutover to a single reservations and passenger services system.

United’s move to Continental’s SHARES system was messy—not so much on the technology front as it was a failure to communicate the changes in frequent-flyer and upgrade policies, which brought the carriers’ call centers to their knees.

Culture clashes between the two airlines took their toll on customer service as well.

Over the past year, though, United has been making a comeback, both financially and in the court of public opinion.

In a conference call with analysts after Smisek’s departure was announced, Munoz said, “I think the team has been doing a great job recently. I hope to make you as optimistic as I am” about United’s future.

He said the carrier will remain focused on improving its product, leveraging both technology and innovation.

He deferred further questions about detailed operational issues, noting that, “It’s my first half-hour.”