United Airlines President and CEO Oscar Munoz underwent successful heart transplant surgery this month, the airline posted a record financial performance in 2015, and the internal company culture promotes stellar brand loyalty.
Things couldn’t be better at United right now.
“My new heart makes me feel like I’ve been given a new set of wings, and that reinforces my confidence that, with the wings we all share, we can soar in our quest to make United a great airline for our customers and a cherished place to work,” Munoz wrote in a letter to employees. “I will be relying on this sense of team purpose as I transition back. We have some important decisions ahead of us, and we can move forward with the necessary boldness only if we have a shared trust, confidence and respect.”
Munoz added: “Your hard work in the face of challenging conditions was exceptional, and our customers noticed. I couldn’t be more proud of what you did and am pleased to share that we received our highest customer satisfaction performance for the holiday period in more than three years! It’s a fantastic achievement.”
During the company’s Jan. 21 fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call, Munoz offered an update on his health.
“I am pleased to report that I feel great,” he said, according to Seeking Alpha. “My recovery is progressing very nicely. Already this week, in fact, over the course of the last month, I am beginning to participate in meetings and certainly plan to increase my involvement each week going forward. As far as expectation of full return, I certainly will be back full-time by the end of the first quarter, if not sooner and I am incredibly energized by that prospect. So again, I look forward to seeing all of you out on the road.”
Munoz thanked acting CEO Brett Hart and “my entire United team for their excellent work and implementing our shared purpose and vision for United. We really have made significant progress in both our operation and our financial performance. I am frankly excited to be here today that we announced record profits for the fourth quarter and full year 2015. And this I tell you could not have been done without the renewed engagement, excitement, and energy that exist with our frontline employees. I am very proud of what they do each and every day and we are going to leverage and use this increased level of engagement to continue the momentum into 2016 and beyond.”
Acting CEO Brett Hart said during the fourth quarter he visited each of United’s hubs.
“I am consistently impressed by our employees’ enthusiasm, dedication, and strong desire to win and it is an honor to work alongside them as we take the next steps toward improving United,” Hart said. “Today, we reported 2015 pre-tax earnings of $4.5 billion, our highest level of earnings in United’s history. I am pleased to announce that through our profit sharing program, employees will be able to share in the success as we pay out $698 million, our largest distribution ever. We also want to be a great place to work for our employees. We have a responsibility to provide them with contracts they deserve. And this fall, we made significant progress to do just that. Evidence
of this progress can be found in the two new agreements covering our pilots and technicians that are currently in the ratification process. Additionally, we reached an agreement to open negotiations on new contracts for our airport and customer service work groups, more than one year in advance of the amendable dates. We are also continuing negotiations with our flight attendants and are hopeful that we reach an agreement with them this year. I want to thank these union groups for their commitment to reaching agreements that will lead our workforce in the years to come.”