The United Continental Holdings board has chosen Jane Garvey, the first female administrator of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, as its new chairman _ a role that was once promised to CEO Oscar Munoz.
Garvey, 74, will be the first woman to chair the Chicago-based airline's board. United announced her appointment Thursday in a note to employees.
Garvey, who has served on United's board since 2009, replaces the airline's outgoing chairman, Robert Milton. Munoz's employment agreement had specified that he would become chairman this year, but after a passenger was dragged off a United Express flight at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in April 2017, the airline's board said it believed the CEO and chairman roles should be separate.
Garvey is the North America chairman of Meridiam, a development and investment firm, who previously led the U.S. public-private partnerships advisory group at JPMorgan Chase.
She served as the 14th administrator of the FAA between 1997 and 2002 and served on former President Barack Obama's transition team in 2008.
"Jane steps into this critical role bringing with her decades of experience as both a leader and pioneer in our industry," Munoz said in the note to employees. "As the first woman to lead the FAA, and the first to do so for a full five-year term, she led the agency through its most critical moment during the events of September, 11, 2001, guiding it with the same sense of purpose and wisdom that has made her such a valued member of United's board for many years. It's been my great privilege to call Jane not only a colleague, but also a friend, and I look forward to continuing to work with her and our fellow directors to build the best airline for our customers, employees and everyone we serve."
United board member Laurence Simmons is also retiring, shrinking the airline's board from 16 to 14 directors.
