Uncertainty always creates doubt, and doubt creates fear.
Oscar Munoz
To get our passengers where they want to go safely and happily requires thousands of us working together with a shared purpose of supporting each other in serving our customers.
Communication and communication strategy is not just part of the game - it is the game.
We have such rigid rules, sometimes, that they don't have to be rules. They can be policies and procedures that can be adapted for the moment.
We are market based and have to differentiate our product in many ways; pricing isn't the only one.
As board members, we only meet infrequently and are not as engaged with the front line, necessarily. The first thing I did as CEO was I left this board room.
This is a pattern-bargaining industry, like railroads. You need to pay market to get a contract at all, and without contracts, you have a poor relationship with workers.
Our employees and competitors thought we were docile. We want to be defiantly disruptive. I don't mean necessarily by launching price wars but by being the best at the basics - having the best customer service, the best on-time performance, the best coffee - in a thoughtful, not a testosterone-laced, way.
It is important that we win back the trust of employees first, then customers.
United's 2015 earnings were one of the best in the company's history.
If I have any strength that would be considered above average, it is that I can read people.
We are deeply sorry for the loss of anything - from your luggage to, of course, a loved pet.
It is a free world. It is a dynamic of our new day and age: technology is everywhere.
I think one of the things that, at least, I found out over - and many have in the industry - is that of all the customer service desires and needs, price is one of them.
I feel terrific - my mind, my energy, my focus continues to be what it always has been, and I have a renewed sense of purpose.
For me, it's common sense to treat other people like you would like to be treated. Empathy is a broad concept, but how do you get there? People get there differently. I get there by truly building a little trust and connection. You'll tell me something, I'll act on it, and then that builds on itself.
Treating our customers and each other with respect and dignity is at the core of who we are, and we must always remember this no matter how challenging the situation.
In the telecommunications, consumer products, and railway businesses, there are very real consequences if you don't meet the consumer's needs and desires. There are also substantive rewards for doing so, and especially for exceeding customer expectations.
It's the human approach to customers that I want to bring back.
I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard. No one should ever be mistreated this way. I want you to know that we take full responsibility, and we will work to make it right. It's never too late to do the right thing.
It's a new era with regard to social media. It's just something that we have to adapt to and accept.
I can't tell you how many thousands of small moments that I've had with employees in our company that have been nothing more than a one-on-one. I'll see the baggage-services person, he or she is by himself. I'll pull them off to the side and have a 15-minute conversation about their history, their life, that kind of thing.
Getting people where they want to go, reliably and happily, can make or break their ability to succeed in a work endeavor or to hug a family member at an important moment.
Our progress isn't just limited to the operation. Financially, we have been performing well. United's 2015 earnings were one of the best in the company's history, and we made significant progress shrinking the margin gap with our closest competitors, strengthening our balance sheet, and returning significant cash to shareholders.
We will not only be more flexible when it comes to price, we'll also be more efficient operationally by forgoing pre-assigned seating, priority boarding, upgrading the option for last-minute changes.
We are dedicated to setting the standard for customer service among U.S. airlines, as we elevate the experience our customers have with us from booking to baggage claim.
It is my mission to ensure we make the changes needed to provide our customers with the highest level of service and the deepest sense of respect. Ultimately, our actions will speak louder than words.
Clearly, nutrition is great. I was a vegan, so being an athlete and a vegan certainly sounds like it would be the right thing to prevent something like heart disease, but it's highly genetic.
We have not provided our frontline supervisors and managers and individuals with the proper procedures that would allow them to use their common sense.
We didn't have nine brands of cereal at home. We'd line up to fill our bowls from a giant vat of oatmeal.
I believe we must go further in redefining what United's corporate citizenship looks like in our society... and we intend to live up to those higher expectations in the way we embody social responsibility and civic leadership everywhere we operate.
We had taken the cups for coffee out of the building as a cost-saving measure, but left the coffee. Somebody thought it was symbolic to do this.
When LeBron James shows up at your doorstep, you're going to let him practice with your team if not join the team.
Everyone eventually matches or leapfrogs everyone else.
You forget sometimes that the people you're carrying are human.
We have significant work to be done. We have old, antiquated systems. Remember the 8-track tape player? Think of that as our core system, and we're living in a world where everybody has an iPhone.
Clearly, on a visceral human front, I oppose any wall, anywhere, between any people - period.
I am thrilled to return full time to a job and the employees I love.
There are no more holes in my management lineup.
If you feel anything weird, immediately call 911 and give them your address because you may not make it past the phone call.
I'm told by our internal surveys that we take of customers - by customers themselves directly and by a very large group of our employees - that there's a new spirit at United.
I represent the interests of almost 90,000 human beings in our system. That's by far my first and foremost commitment.
I think we have a thriving economic engine between not only the U.S. and Mexico but the U.S. and many, many other countries.
Let's be honest: the implementation of the United and Continental merger has been rocky for customers and employees.
We are committed to re-earning your trust.
It is about the entire experience. It's not just a new seat. It's not just new meals. It's not just better wines.
We set out to reinvent the whole business class experience. We went back to re-engineer everything we had thought about and made sleep a priority.
The level of improvement has been great across the industry, and we have improved along with everyone.
United spent $1.2 billion repurchasing shares in 2015 and plans to spend $1.5 billion on share repurchases in the first quarter of 2016. We have a lot of positive momentum, but this is just the beginning.
We have to realize we have millions of human beings traveling on our equipment.
