Last year, United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek abruptly resigned amid a federal investigation into allegations that the airline had provided illegal special favors to an official in charge of Newark Liberty International Airport — including relaunching a route to South Carolina that just happened to be near a home owned by that official. United has now agreed to pay $2.4 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into these allegations — just a tiny portion of the financial benefit the airline received as a result of this back-room dealing. [More]
jeff smisek
United Gets Off Easy, Pays $2.4M Penalty For Using Planes To Chauffeur Airport Exec To Vacation Home
By 12.5.16
10 Things We Learned About United Airlines’ Efforts To Not Annoy Customers
By 1.14.16
Five years after United Airlines and Continental finalized their mega-merger, the resulting carrier has struggled to deal with both unhappy passengers and employees, and remains at the back of the customer satisfaction pack among the nation’s major airlines.
[More]
New United CEO Apologizes For 5 Years Of Merger-Related Problems
By 10.1.15
The five-year-old marriage between United and Continental airlines appears to be hitting the seven-year itch a few years early, as new United CEO Oscar Munoz began his tenure acknowledging the mega-merger may not have been such a good idea after all. [More]
Ousted United Airlines CEO Smisek Scores Millions Of Dollars, Free Flights, Airport Parking Forever
By 9.10.15
I’m not saying I want to be fired in the middle of an investigation into a scandal involving one of the country’s busiest airports, but if it were to happen, I’d want the same deal that ousted United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek is getting. [More]
United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek Steps Down Amid Investigation
By 9.8.15
One of the nation’s largest airlines has lost its CEO and two other top executives, as United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek has stepped down from the company’s top post in the midst of a federal investigation into the airline. [More]
Continental Will Cancel Flights To Avoid Fines For Late Takeoffs
By 3.9.10
Starting next month, airlines delayed over 3 hours where passengers can’t disembark will be fined a hefty $27,500 per passenger. Continental CEO Jeff Smisek said that to get around the fines, they’ll just cancel the whole flight entirely. See, you can’t fine a flight for not taking off on-time if the flight doesn’t exist anymore. [AP] (Thanks to Brandon!) [More]
