United Airlines has named Janet Lamkin as President of California. Her duty will be to build the brand in the Golden State.
This appointment occurred in November, but was not widely publicized. I’m writing about this because she sent out an email to all United MileagePlus residents registered in California.
Dear Matthew,
As we head into the new year full of new beginnings, I want to take a moment to introduce myself. I recently joined United Airlines as the President of California. As a Californian and long-time United customer, I will be working hard to ensure that United Airlines best serves you and our communities.
United’s California initiatives, including the creation of my role, are evidence of how important this market and our California customers are to us. I am proud to join a company working on issues that I care deeply about and that are important to Californians, including diversity and inclusion, protecting our environment, and the economic vitality of our communities.
United has been part of California for more than 90 years, providing the best service and best network to connect you to the world. It’s a privilege to serve you and to help improve the communities in which you work and live.
Thank you for your business. I look forward to many opportunities to exceed your expectations in 2018.
All the best,
Janet Lamkin
President, California
What Will She Do?
Lamkin came to United from Bank of America, where she worked for 20 years building the bank’s brand in California. United described her position in the following way:
In this role, the top market leadership position for United in California, Lamkin will be responsible for the promotion of United’s brand within California, home to the carrier’s San Francisco and Los Angeles hubs. This includes setting the vision for the company in the region, working closely with marketing, sales and government affairs, as well as with local airport authorities, to lead United’s strategy to be the area’s top carrier. Lamkin will start at United at the end of this month, reporting to Scott Kirby, president of United.
Here’s Scott Kirby on Lamkin:
As we accelerate our efforts to be the best airline for our customers, Janet will be instrumental in helping us deliver on our commitments to our customers in San Francisco and Los Angeles, two hubs that are key to our network strategy. Janet’s expertise in forming relationships with customers, corporate clients and civic organizations will prove invaluable to United.
CONCLUSION
Lamkin will “wear many hats” in her role and I do believe she can make a difference in California for United. United has a fortress hub in San Francisco, but Los Angeles is another story. With fierce competition, I hope Lamkin will be able to help United stay competitive and strengthen its LAX hub.
This is United’s second regional president. Jill Kaplan is president of the New York/New Jersey region.
image: United
Isn’t hiring someone from BOA for branding akin to hiring someone from Lay’s Potato Chips to run a luxury gym chain?
Wait, who am I kidding, it’s United. She will fit right in.
Why do all corporate women have noodle arms?
Let’s not focus on her physical appearance.
She thinks United is providing the best service?
Well I certainly disagree – they aren’t the worst for sure but nowhere near the best.
Maybe she should try flying on Qatar, Austrian, Singapore, EVA and a few others to obtain more clarity on where United excels and where they fall short before making such statement.
Also agree with your comment as well. Her comment about providing best service is a joke. Not too long ago, UA ran a commercial about being the best airline. Yeah right. I challenge UA executives to fly on SQ, BR, CX, NH..and the likes and find out what real service is like. Not just UA but service on airlines in the States is an absolute joke.
I received the same email since I’m also a resident of California. Sounds like good news to me. Anything she can do to build up LAX or SFO and their routes would be great.
I hope she could also help expedite opening Polaris lounges in both cities. UA’s pathetically slow rollout is especially glaring considering how quickly AA got their great new Flagship’s open.
Obviously UA does not have a President of proper grammar and English language usage. Cute marketing gimmick but I’d have more respect for UA and this person if the word “for” replaced the ridiculous “of”.
The FT comments are hilarious.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/1887046-our-commitment-california-email.html