With Scott Kirby now in the captain’s seat, United is implementing a number of leadership changes effective June 1, 2020. Most notably, a new Chief Operating Officer (COO) has been appointed.
A New Role For United COO Greg Hart
COO Greg Hart is nearing retirement, but Kirby wants to keep him on for a bit longer…or so goes the official line.
Hart joined Continental Airlines in 1997, working his way up over the years. He has been the bearer of bad news lately, announcing to management and administration (M&A) staff that mandatory time off and job cuts are around the corner.
That may not have have earned him friends among the employees, but Kirby seems to appreciate him, asking him to pivot from COO to focus on “critical medium and long-term issues”. In a note to employees, Kirby said:
“Specifically, I’m asking Greg to step back from his role as COO and instead focus on critical medium and long term issues – in particular, setting the stage for United to be the world leader in innovation with respect to safety, hygiene, and operating efficiency. Additionally, I’ll be relying on him to continue his work on one of our most important objectives – developing strategies to allow flexibility in our cost structure, including labor costs.
“Our costs are not designed for the near-term uncertainty of travel demand. Demand could be down 30% or it could be down 70%. The way to best survive this crisis is to be able to nimbly adjust the size of the airline, including labor costs, to meet demand and importantly, be ready to bounce back quickly when the virus is defeated. We believe we are working on ideas that no other airline in the world is considering. Greg is uniquely qualified to be a leader not just for United, but in world-wide aviation, taking us all to the next level on these issues that are so critical to our future.”
Jon Roitman Becomes New United COO
Jon Roitman will become United’s new Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer. He’s currently leading United’s Airport and Network Operations and like Hart, also joined Continental Airlines in 1997.
Roitman formerly ran Continental’s Cleveland hub and is also a West Point graduate. Kirby added:
“Jon is the embodiment of our core4 culture and no one has a better sense of the inner-workings of our operation. We’ve made some tough choices as an organization and even tougher decisions may come in the near-term, so it’s more critical than ever that we have a leader of Jon’s caliber waking up every day thinking solely about how we stay a step ahead of this virus and its impact on our operation. In addition to his current responsibilities, Jon will expand his role to include Flight Operations, Technical Operations and Safety.”
Other Leadership Changes
Although not explained in the employee memo:
“As part of these moves, Sarah Murphy, Senior Vice President of United Express, and Jan Krems, Vice President of Cargo, will move into Andrew Nocella’s organization and Toby Enqvist, Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer, will report to Brett Hart.”
Hart is United’s new President while Nocella is United’s Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. Enqvist joined Continental in 1996, Hart joined United in 2010, and Nocella worked with Kirby at US Airways and American Airlines (and before that at Continental Airlines).
CONCLUSION
I see a lot of Continental people running the show again..that’s a bit dismaying considering ex-Continental CEO Jeff Smisek and his cronies from Houston helped to run the airline into the ground after the United-Continental merger. But with Kirby and Nocella holding two of the biggest roles, United also have a good dose of US Airways and American Airlines.
How will this all play out? Only time will tell.
“setting the stage for United to be the world leader in innovation with respect to safety, hygiene, and operating efficiency.” That is an impossible task. United will never ever be a world leader in anything positive. They always copy Delta. I would take retirement instead.
Kirby assigned a very challenging task to Greg, but removed Greg’s COO tittle. Sounds like “Setting Greg up for failure”. On the other hand, look at Nocella who worked with Kirby at AA and followed Kirby to United. There is an old saying “It’s not what you know, but who you know”. Congratulations to the new COO (I have nothing to against him), but feel bad for Greg.
I remember Jon Roitman coming in to our station to meet and answer (United) employees’ pressing questions at the time of the merger. He blew off everyone that had any pressing concerns and really could not answer the questions at all – just presented the (totally) Continental mindset. After he left, a friend and I laughed – he was dressed so casual, we agreed he looked like he was ready to go for a round of golf. Not impressed with this United, er, Continental move.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention…. found out he only had about one year in the airline industry with CO before the merger. What could he possibly know ?…. indeed (as mentioned above), that age-old saying “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”.
Forgot to mention….. I found out he had only about one year in the airline industry with CO. What words of “encouragement” could he possibly have give us (pre-merger UAL staff) ??
Lol. Obviously legacy pos united you are
A little more Continental influence into the misery that is United Airlines cannot be anything but good. After the merger, the United folks pretty much eliminated any vestiges of Continental in our “merger of equals.”
What company was Smisek and his top lieutenants from? I will agree that the merged United combined the worst of both airlines. I miss the old customer service on United and the catering on Continental.
Lol. Obviously legacy pos united you are
Continental had a damn good operation AND Employee relations. Legacy united fucked that up. We need a Gordon Bethune to get us out of this mess
After the merger, Jeff Smisek of Continental became the CEO of the new company. Thus, claiming that United screwed up might not be accurate. I respect Mr. Bethune a lot even I didn’t fly much at that time (still too young). However, Mr. Bethune can only solve the issue if he can change/reverse what Kirby and others did to loyal customers. Earning miles by $ x 11 for top tier flyer, dynamic award, revenue-base elite qualification, 1000 QPQ’s when flying business with partners… are a few to list here. It is hard to win customers back after these horrible changes. Remember flyers have choices these days.