March 21, 2016

Fellow United Pilots,

We all have seen the recent deluge of news concerning activist shareholders who are trying to install several handpicked board members, including former Continental CEO Gordon Bethune. Mr. Bethune is well known for leading the turn-around at Continental Airlines in the 1990s. This airline success story is chronicled in the book, “From Worst to First.” Mr. Bethune inarguably created a wonderful legacy for Continental airlines and himself, which we hope will remain untouched and untarnished by those attempting to use him as a distraction in their attempt to raid United’s corporate assets.

March 14 was CEO Oscar Munoz’s first day back at work, returning from his heart transplant. The pilots and employees of United welcome him back and are looking forward to what we believe will be positive change at our airline. Mr. Munoz has vowed to fix the remaining problems created by the merger, problems that languished during former CEO Jeff Smisek’s tenure. It is axiomatic that these positive changes will lead to a more proactive and engaged workforce, an overall better customer experience, and improvements to the bottom line. We also have received a firm commitment from Mr. Munoz to address and fix the myriad problems that have been obvious to all employees for some time. Your MEC, as well as Wall Street, are well aware that these problems were created and/or ignored by Mr. Munoz’s predecessor, Mr. Smisek; a man handpicked by Mr. Bethune, who continues to make public comments openly supporting Mr. Smisek.

The suggestion that Mr. Bethune would be a great choice for the United Airlines board is designed to play on employees’ good will and feelings of nostalgia. We believe it is a mere ploy, a red herring, and a complete ruse designed to distract everyone from the activists’ real goal, which is to smash and grab from United’s coffers. In order for our airline to remain competitive, continued investments need to be made that will benefit all stakeholders, not just shareholders. Instead of rewarding corporate green mailers, investments in the future viability of our airline need to be made. To remain competitive, we still need many improvements to the infrastructure, IT systems, fleets, maintenance, training, customer experience, employee contracts, and other integration issues.

Now, with the ineffective Mr. Smisek out of the picture, and the return of a more inspirational leader in Mr. Munoz, our airline has turned the corner. The UALMEC looks forward to effective leadership from Mr. Munoz. We support the positive direction that he has taken thus far. We are not interested in outsiders who are late to the party and interfering with United’s bright future. We are not interested in handing over hard earned profits to those looking to raid the corporation. The pilots and employees of United Airlines deserve better. Our passengers deserve better. The shareholders deserve better. All stakeholders of United Airlines will benefit by thwarting these destructive forces disguised as shareholder activists.

The United Master Executive Council
Air Line Pilots Association, International