United Airlines' parent company, United Continental Holdings Inc., is reportedly looking for a new CEO to replace new chief Oscar Munoz, following his alleged heart attack that led to his hospitalization on Thursday. Though the company has been mum about the incident, his absence threatens to intensify the turmoil in the company.
On Friday, United Airlines announced that 56-year-old Oscar Munoz had been admitted to a hospital. Unfortunately, the company declined to give any further details. But a source, who has knowledge about the incident, told Reuters that he suffered a heart attack. Due to Munoz's absence, observers are wondering who will be in charge to handle his responsibilities.
"We need to know who is speaking on the behalf of the company and who is accountable for the decisions of this great airline," corporate governance expert and Yale School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld said.
Sonnenfeld also added that United Airlines has an obligation to its shareholders. While the company said on Friday that Munoz's family informed them about his hospitalization a day before and would provide appropriate further details soon.
Munoz's hospitalization came after almost a month he was appointed as United Airlines' CEO and assume the responsibilities to improve the company's profitability and reputation. Experts also said that Munoz's health issues came a week ahead of the company's scheduled reporting of its first earnings under his leadership.
Despite the odds, the United Airlines stressed the company will continue to operate normally. However, Bloomberg Business noted that Munoz's absence will add to the chaos at the company, where former CEO Jeff Smisek was fired amid a federal probe into the airline's connection to the former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey chairman.
Meanwhile, New York-based Luma Asset Management chief investment officer Greg Taxin and corporate governance research firm Glass founder Lewis Co have both echoed Sonnenfeld's words that Munoz's absence is quite worrisome.
"It's probably silly or foolish that they just haven't satisfied people's desire to know how the chain of command is working," Taxin said, as per Big News Network. "On the other hand, I presume the CEO of United Airlines goes on vacation on a regular basis, and he's not around to answer question or make decision and things run just fine."
Under Munoz's leadership, he made an efforts to resolve the complaints of customers and employees on United Continental in recent years, which surfaced after the merger of United and Continental airlines.
