Levy had multiple roles including CFO at low-priced airline Allegiant Travel Co.
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Chicago-based United also announced that chief revenue officer and vice chairman Jim Compton will retire at the end of the year and Julia Haywood, the managing director of The Boston Consulting Group, will join the airline to become EVP and chief commercial officer.
“I have spent the last few months working with Julia as she has been partnering with our revenue and network teams, and her expertise in global consumer travel will be a tremendous addition to drive United’s strategic direction”, said Munoz. The role had been unfilled since last August, when John Rainey resigned to take the same position at PayPal Holdings Inc. He suffered a heart attack a month into the new job and went on leave.
Haywood has been at BCG for twelve years, where she has ascended to lead the firm’s airline transformation practice globally, with specific expertise in commercial strategy and execution, network planning and revenue growth. He only returned to full-time work in March and immediately confronted a proxy battle.
Worth noting that veteran airline investor Par Capital was a substantial holder of Allegiant shares through much of Levy’s tenure at the company.
Allegiant has had safety incidents over the past couple of years that drew regulatory scrutiny.
Allegiant’s safety issues mostly came after Levy’s departure, said Wolfe Research analyst Hunter Keay, who called the new CFO a “smart, blunt, no-nonsense guy”.
Interpreting what these management additions will mean for United is somewhat subjective, but the impact on Allegiant (ALGT, Buy, $131.58) and Spirit (SAVE, Buy, $40.49) is clearly positive as the other option open to Mr. Levy – once his non-compete (against LCCs) expired this Fall – was to start his own airline. As chief revenue officer, Compton supervised functions including sales, revenue management, marketing and planning the hub and route network. He has been seeking to improve labor relations and operational performance at the airline. The carrier’s approximately 25,000 attendants on Friday approved a contract that will unite United and Continental groups that had been prevented from working together since the two airlines merged in October 2010. The carrier and its mechanics union also reached an agreement in principle on a contract that awaits approval by the Teamsters-represented membership.
“The older blood, within the airline industry, was seen as potentially negative”, said Craig Juran of Denver Investments, who manages a fund with a stake in United. Along the way, Mr. Munoz has been putting energy into improving labor relations and shoring up the operational performance of the No 3 US airline by traffic.
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United fell 1.6 percent to $47.39 at 12:07 p.m.in NY.
