United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek resigned Tuesday as a result
of a federal corruption investigation, the airline announced.
Mark Anderson, the airline's senior vice president of
corporate affairs, and Nene Foxhall, its executive vice president for communication
and government affairs, also resigned Tuesday amid the probe.
United named Oscar Munoz, a member of the company's board,
as Smisek's replacement. Munoz came to United from CSX Corporation, where he
served as CEO.
United had previously disclosed that it was conducting an
internal investigation in parallel with a federal probe associated with the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “The investigations are ongoing and
the company continues to cooperate with the government,” the airline said.
Federal prosecutors have been
investigating ties between United and former Port Authority Chairman Pete
Samson, who stepped down in early 2014. In particular, the investigators are
looking into a flight United offered between Newark and Columbia Metropolitan
Airport in South Carolina. The port authority runs the Newark airport and
Samson's wife has a home approximately 50 miles outside of Columbia.
In a February article, The Record newspaper in New Jersey,
citing an unnamed source, reported that Samson used to refer to the
twice-weekly flight as “the chairman's flight.” United began the route in
September 2012, 19 months after Samson became port authority chairman, and
canceled it three days after his resignation.
Smisek had run United since its merger with Continental in
2010.
Also on Tuesday, United appointed Henry Meyer III to serve
as its nonexecutive chairman of the board of directors. Munoz will continue to
serve on the board.