換心之后雄心不減，他繼續帶領公司走出低谷

此刻，奧斯卡·穆諾茲（Oscar Munoz）正在向飛行員們講述他命懸一線的那一天?！拔蚁牒湍銈兯腥朔窒砟切┳屛宜览锾由慕ㄗh，”他說。

這是十月中旬一天。這位美聯航大陸航空的CEO正手持麥克風站在丹佛郊外一家麗笙酒店的會議室里。他身著藍色上衣和灰色休閑褲，向正在這里參加公司年度培訓的250位資深飛行員發表講話。

這位富于魅力的57歲CEO用幽默感征服了在座的聽眾。他說，和氣氛沉重的去年（當時，美聯航和飛行員工會還未就薪酬水平更高的延期合同達成一致。）相比，同一批聽眾在今年的心情要輕松愉快許多?！叭ツ?，會議室里的所有人都對我怒目而視?！?穆諾茲回憶說。

但是，他興高采烈的神情突然間暗淡下來。穆諾茲提到的2015年10月15日清晨發生的事情讓整個房間陷入沉寂。他對全神貫注的聽眾說：“這周是我心臟病發作一周年?！?

當時，在完成早鍛煉后，穆諾茲正在返回他在芝加哥市中心租賃的寓所。這位健身達人一直堅持吃素食，就在短短幾周前，他還剛剛參加過一場鐵人三項賽。電話鈴響起的時候，他正在攪拌蛋白奶昔?！霸谖胰ソ与娫挄r，腿突然開始打顫?！?

他突然記起了一位和他一起慢跑的心臟病專家朋友曾經說過的話?！八f，‘你要是感覺不對，馬上打911告訴他們現在你的位置。你可能連第一個電話都堅持不過去’?！?

穆諾茲立即抓起固定電話,撥打了911并且告訴接線員他的地址. “要知道我曾經在美國電報電話公司（AT&T）工作過?！蹦轮Z茲調侃到。然后恍惚中記得門被鎖上，他就在半昏迷狀態下跌跌撞撞地穿過公寓房間去把門打開。剛把門打開，他就倒在了衣柜門上撞破了鼻子。很快，醫療急救人員沖進了房間。他回憶到，在撥打911電話37分鐘后，他已經躺在西北紀念醫院（Northwestern Memorial Hospital）的呼吸機上。

這次瀕死體驗發生在穆諾茲擔任美聯航CEO的第38天。這使得在他就任美聯航CEO后的頭7個月內，有6個月的時間都是在一系列斷斷續續的治療中度過的。1月5日他生日那天，他接受了為時11個小時的心臟移植手術。（醫生告訴他，心臟捐獻者是一位30歲的年輕人，但是沒有透露更多信息。）他的身體狀況在短短2個月內迅速恢復，然后重返工作崗位。穆諾茲是為數不多的幾位在接受了心臟移植后仍然繼續履行高管職務的大企業CEO之一?！斑@是有史以來最激動人心的勵志故事，”加拿大航空前總裁，今年3月剛剛應穆諾茲之邀加入美聯航董事會并擔任董事長的羅伯特·米爾頓（Robert Milton）說?！拔壹用嗣缆摵降脑蛑痪褪窍霂瓦@位老兄取得成功?！?/p>

Oscar Munoz is telling his pilots about the day he almost died. “I want to share with all of you the advice that saved my life,” he says.

It’s mid-October and the CEO of United Continental UAL is standing, microphone in hand, at one end of a conference room in a Radisson hotel outside Denver. Dapper and relaxed in a blue blazer and gray slacks, Munoz is here to address 250 of the airline giant’s veteran pilots, who have flown in for annual training exercises.

The charismatic 57-year-old executive has already won the room over with his sense of humor, pointing out that today’s crowd is in a far more jubilant mood than the tense group at the same event last year—before the company and the pilots’ union had agreed to a generous contract extension. “I was facing a room full of fingers pointing at me,” he says.

But suddenly his sunny mood turns somber. The room grows quiet as Munoz recalls the morning of Oct. 15, 2015. “This is the anniversary week of my heart attack,” he tells his rapt audience.

Munoz had just returned to his downtown Chicago rental apartment after an early-morning workout. The fitness freak—who had completed a triathlon weeks earlier and maintained a vegan diet—was mixing a protein shake when the phone rang. “As I went to answer, my legs buckled.”

The words of a cardiologist friend he jogs with suddenly came to him. “He said, ‘If you ever feel something weird, call 911, and tell them where you are. You may not get past that first phone call.’?”

Munoz grabbed his landline—“I used to work for AT&T”—dialed 911, and sputtered his address. Then, remembering that he had locked the front door, he stumbled across the apartment in a stupor. Just as he got the door unlocked, he tumbled backward into a closet door, breaking his nose in the fall. Moments later the paramedics rushed in. Within 37 minutes of making the 911 call, he recounts, he was on life support at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The near-death experience occurred on Munoz’s 38th day as United’s CEO. And it marked the start of a series of medical trials that, on and off, kept him sidelined for six of his first seven months at United. On Jan. 5, his birthday, Munoz received a heart transplant in an 11-hour operation. (He’s been told the donor was a 30-year-old but has no further information.) But he returned to the job after an extraordinarily brief recovery of just over two months. In fact, Munoz is one of the very few CEOs of a major company to ever continue in the top job after receiving a heart transplant. “This is the craziest human-interest story ever,” says Robert Milton, the former chief of Air Canada who joined the United board in March at Munoz’s behest and now serves as chairman. “I took the job in part because I wanted this guy to win.”

另一位新任董事，來自PAR資本（今年早些時候曾經威脅爭奪董事會代表權，后來與穆諾茲達成協議的兩家對沖基金之一）的埃德·沙彼羅（Ed Shapiro）說：“真正讓我們印象深刻的是，他是冒著生命危險來領導美聯航的。他本可以說，‘我得了要命的病，沒法繼續工作’，但它選擇了回來繼續承擔這份壓力巨大的工作?！?/p>

和穆諾茲的回歸一樣引人矚目的是他為扭轉這家多年來身陷困境、四分五裂的航空公司命運所做的艱苦努力。他與公司四大工會達成協議，解決了持續數年的勞資沖突；他聘用了來自競爭對手的高管；他提高了美聯航的準點到達率。華爾街已經開始關注這些動向：在截至11月初的短短4個月時間里，美聯航股價飆升了44% ——把競爭對手美國航空（37%）和達美航空（17%）拋在身后。事實上，穆諾茲回歸美聯航的舉動將會極大改變規模達7,000億美元的全球航空業的平衡。

在幾小時的采訪過程中，穆諾茲為《財富》獨家詳細介紹了美聯航雄心勃勃的目標、實現目標所需的戰略、以及他如何九死一生并成功康復的驚險歷程。

美聯航和大陸航空2010年失敗的合并造成了災難性的后果。自那時起，美聯航的業績就一直乏善可陳。穆諾茲擔任CEO之前，美聯航與空乘和地勤的合同談判一直延宕了多年也未達成一致，公司勞資關系一直處于緊張狀態。在美國四大航空公司之中，美聯航的航班準點率一直位列末席。

由此，美國航空產業逐漸形成了很多專家都認為將會持續多年的層級結構。在美國三大航空公司中，達美航空以高可靠性、強大的盈利能力和高市場占有率扮演著龍頭老大的地位。美國航空則在與全美航空合并之后穩居次席。

排名第三的美聯航存在的問題已經遠遠不止可靠性差和機艙服務態度惡劣兩條。近年來，在一系列并購活動后，美國航空市場只剩下了四大航空公司（包括廉價航空的領導者西南航空）。從而使這一市場的盈利能力大增。然而，美聯航卻沒有及時抓住美國國內航班密集、票價堅挺的機會擴大經營規模，而是側重于經營連接美國和亞洲、歐洲的航線。

為了扭轉這種不利局面，穆諾茲做出了一系列大膽舉措，其中包括一項重大招募行動。今年8月，美聯航將曾經長期擔任美國航空總裁的斯科特·科爾比（Scott Kirby）納入麾下并擔任相同職位，使業界深受震撼?？茽柋壬瞄L精心編制航班計劃以增加盈利航線的數量，被譽為業內最佳的“網絡管理者”。

穆諾茲正是想利用科爾比的網絡開發能力縮短與美國航空和達美航空的差距。事實上，由于航空燃料價格大幅下跌，以及業內并購所導致的航空公司平均飛機數量大增，三大航空公司目前均能夠實現盈利。盡管如此，美聯航卻在關鍵財務指標上遠遠落在它的兩大競爭對手身后：2016年頭9個月，美聯航的運營利潤率為14.5%，遠低于達美航空的19.7%，比美國航空的16.3%也要低將近兩個百分點。

美聯航能夠強勢東山再起的原因在于：美聯航擁有三大航空公司中最優越的樞紐機場網絡。在大多數重點城市的航空市場，它總是排名首席或次席 – 在丹佛、休斯頓、紐約紐瓦克、舊金山排名第一，在華盛頓排名第二?！瓣P鍵在于是否能把我們未曾開發的潛力全部開發出來，”美聯航董事長米爾頓在他位于芝加哥威利斯大廈11層的辦公室表示。身材苗條、精神抖擻的穆諾茲看起來并沒有最近接受過心臟移植這種大手術的任何跡象。他存在健康問題的唯一表現是右手抓握時的些許無力感。（他已經恢復了騎行鍛煉，但在左側車把上安裝了能給前輪和后輪同時剎車的特殊剎車手柄。）但至少他現在能握手，而在一兩個月前，他的抓握能力尚在恢復中，只能和別人行碰拳禮。為了增強體力，他的飲食由全素改成了偶爾吃葷，他的菜譜中加入了魚肉和禽肉。

美聯航正在采取引人注目的舉措吸引商務旅客。今年12月，美聯航將正式啟動一項稱為“United Polaris”的服務，將以前國際航班上的商務艙和頭等艙合并，從而使每個座位都能直達機艙過道。United Polaris服務附屬的超豪華特別候機室還提供正餐美食及淋浴服務。

但是穆諾茲認為，僅憑上述便利服務還不足以讓美聯航超越其競爭對手?！懊總€人最后都會趕上甚至超過別人?！彼f。

他的最終目的是要改變美聯航的企業文化 – 由極端被動接受轉為積極主動進取?！拔覀兊膯T工和競爭對手都認為美聯航是一家性情保守的公司，”他解釋說?！拔覀兿氪竽戭嵏策@一切。我指的不一定是打價格戰，而是要在基礎服務上做到最好 – 以細膩周到而又充滿激情的方式提供最好的客戶服務、最高的航班準點率、以及最好的咖啡?！?/p>

穆諾茲在人生初始就領略到了紀律的重要性。他生于南加州，父親是一名從墨西哥移民到美國的屠宰工。穆諾茲是家中9個孩子中的老大?！拔覀冊诩依餂]有準備9個牌子的麥片，”他回憶說?！拔覀円抨爮囊粋€盛滿麥片粥的大桶里舀粥?！?/p>

1982年從南加州大學畢業后，穆諾茲在一系列財務分析師和財務主管工作中一路高升。他首先就職于百事可樂公司，后來跳槽到了可口可樂公司。1990年代中期，在時任可口可樂公司傳奇CEO郭思達（Roberto Goizueta）的領導下，他在可口可樂謀到了一個受到眾人窺伺的高層要職。后來，他陸續在Qwest和美國電報電話等公司任職。

2003年對于穆諾茲是實現跨越發展的關鍵一年。這一年，他進入總部位于杰克遜維爾的CSX鐵路公司任首席財務官和首席戰略官?！澳轮Z茲具有大刀闊斧的鐵腕作風，”CSX總法律顧問艾琳·菲茨西蒙（Ellen Fitzsimmons）說。他裁掉了占員工總數20%的800個管理崗位，精簡了人浮于事的管理體系。他還利用新的分析工具發現了最具盈利能力的細分市場，提高了CSX在高利潤煤炭和化工產品運輸領域的市場份額。在穆諾茲任職的12年期間，CSX的總市值由70億美元劇增至280億美元，年均股票分紅比例高達15.9%，比標準普爾500企業的平均分紅比例高出一倍。

2015年年中，CSX董事會決定由穆諾茲在當年年末接替邁克爾·沃德（Michael Ward）擔任公司CEO，但是，這時急需拯救者的美聯航向他拋出了一根他無法拒絕的橄欖枝。作為一位早在2004年就已成為大陸航空董事會董事的航空業圈內人士，穆諾茲清楚地知道，美聯航正在深陷其中的一場危機可能會導致時任CEO杰夫·斯米塞克（Jeff Smisek）的去職。

過去幾個月以來，美國司法部一直在調查如下事件：紐約新澤西港務局董事長大衛·薩姆森（David Samson）對美聯航施壓，要求后者恢復前往與其度假別墅相距不遠的南卡羅萊納州哥倫比亞的航班，他提出的價碼是啟動美聯航長期以來一直期待的紐瓦克自由機場（改建工程。新澤西州的州檢察官稱，在薩姆森的要求下，美聯航恢復了這個虧損航班。在聯邦調查和美聯航內部調查下，薩姆森于2015年9月被解職。（2016年7月，薩姆森被判受賄罪名成立，美聯航則被判處225萬美元罰款，并同意對其法律合規程序實施大改進。而斯米塞克和美聯航其他高管中無一人受到指控，斯米塞克也從未對這一事件發表任何評論。）

Adds another new director, Ed Shapiro of PAR Capital, one of two hedge funds that threatened a proxy fight earlier this year before reaching an accord with Munoz: “What impressed us was that he put his life at risk to lead United. He chose to come back when it would have been easy to say, ‘I had a life-threatening issue, so I won’t be coming back’ to this incredibly stressful job.”

Almost as remarkable as Munoz’s swift return is the progress he has already made in turning around what has for several years been a struggling and divided airline. He has ended years of labor strife by reaching new deals with the company’s four major unions, recruited away top talent from the airline’s rivals, and boosted United’s on-time arrivals. And Wall Street has taken notice: As of early November, United’s stock price had soared 44% in four months—besting fellow mega-carriers American (37%) AAL 0.94% and Delta DAL 0.80% (17%). Indeed, a comeback at United promises to substantially shift the balance of power in the $700 billion global airlines industry.

In hours of interviews, Munoz recently provided Fortune with a close-up, exclusive look at his ambitious goals for United, his strategy for reaching them, and his amazing recovery from his near-death experience.

united has been an underperformer ever since the disastrous merger between United and Continental in 2010. Prior to Munoz’s arrival, negotiations on contracts with flight attendants and mechanics had been dragging on for years, causing a bitterly antagonistic relationship between management and labor. United regularly posted the worst on-time performance among America’s four major carriers.

As a result, the U.S. industry settled into a hierarchy that most experts predicted would persist for years. Among the nation’s Big Three global carriers, Delta was the clear -champion—with excellent reliability, strong margins, and a dominant market cap to match. After its successful merger with US Airways, American was a strong second place.

Third-place United’s problems ran deeper than just poor reliability and grumpy onboard service. In recent years the U.S. market has proved extremely profitable, in part because the industry has shrunk to just four big carriers (including the leading budget choice, Southwest). But instead of expanding to benefit from the packed planes and strong fares, United had neglected its U.S. business to focus on profits ferrying passengers to Asia and Europe.

Munoz has made bold moves to reverse these trends—and at least one blockbuster hire. In an August coup that astounded the industry, United grabbed the longtime president of American Airlines, Scott Kirby, to take on the same role at United. Kirby, a master of orchestrating schedules to maximize lucrative connecting traffic, is renowned as the best “network manager” in the business.

Munoz is counting on Kirby’s network magic to close the gap with American and Delta. To be sure, today all three major carriers are profitable thanks to a steep fall in the price of jet fuel and the industry consolidation that has helped lead to packed planes. But United trails its rivals by a wide margin on key financial metrics: For the first nine months of 2016, United posted an operating margin of 14.5%, far below Delta at 19.7% and almost two points under American’s 16.3%.

Here’s why United actually has a shot at a strong comeback: It boasts what’s arguably the best array of hubs of the majors. It is the first- or second-ranking carrier in more of the biggest urban markets than any of its rivals—holding the top spot in Denver, Houston, New York City/Newark, and San Francisco and ranking second in Washington, D.C. “The key is the opportunity to exploit all that potential we haven’t been exploiting,” says Milton, the United chairman sitting in his 11th-floor office in Chicago’s Willis Tower (the formerSears Tower), the trim, athletic Munoz shows no outward signs that he’s powered by a recently implanted heart. The only apparent legacy of his health issues is a slight looseness in the grip of his right hand. (He’s back cycling but with a special brake lever installed on the left handlebar that works both front and back wheels.) But he’s shaking hands where he used only fist bumps a couple of months ago and says his grip is returning. To increase his stamina, he has shifted from being a pure vegan to what he calls a “flexitarian,” by adding fish and poultry to his diet.

United is making some splashy moves to attract business travelers. In December it will introduce a new service called Polaris that combines the former business- and first-class cabins on international flights so that every seat has direct aisle access. Polaris will also offer special, extra-luxurious lounges serving sit-down gourmet meals and equipped with showers.

But Munoz doesn’t think that such amenities are what’s going to lift United above its rivals. “Everyone eventually matches or leapfrogs everyone else,” he says.

Instead, he’s set on transforming the United culture—from extremely passive to highly aggressive. “Our employees and competitors thought we were docile,” he explains. “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.”

Munoz learned about operational discipline early in life. He grew up in Southern California, the son of a union meat cutter born in Mexico and the oldest of nine children. “We didn’t have nine brands of cereal at home,” he recalls. “We’d line up to fill our bowls from a giant vat of oatmeal.”

After graduating from USC in 1982, Munoz rose through an ascending series of financial analyst and controller jobs, first at PepsiCo PEP -0.31% , then at Coca-Cola Enterprises. In the mid-1990s he secured a coveted chief-of-staff-like role under legendary Coca-Cola KO -0.51% CEO Roberto Goizueta. He moved on to stints at Qwest and AT&T.

In 2003, Munoz made a big jump when he joined railroad operatorCSX CSX 0.12% of Jacksonville as CFO and chief of strategy. “Oscar brought a certain steeliness,” says its general counsel, Ellen Fitzsimmons. He helped streamline the bloated managerial ranks by eliminating 800—or 20%—of the management positions. He also developed new analytics that identified the most profitable product segments, steering CSX to increase its shares in high-margin coal and chemicals. Over his 12 years at CSX, its market cap soared from $7 billion to $28 billion with a 15.9% average annual stock return that was double the performance of the S&P 500.

In mid-2015 the CSX board chose Munoz to succeed CEO Michael Ward at the end of the year. But then a challenge appeared that Munoz couldn’t turn down.united needed a savior. And as a director of the airline—he had joined the Continental board in 2004—Munoz knew well that the company had been embroiled in a crisis that might end the tenure of CEO Jeff Smisek.

For months the Justice Department had been investigating charges that David Samson, chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, had pressured United to reinstate a flight to Columbia, S.C., near his vacation home in exchange for improvements that United sought at Newark’s Liberty Airport. United reinstated the money-losing flight because of Samson’s demands, according to New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney. The federal investigation and United’s internal probe led to Smisek’s ouster in September 2015. (In July 2016, Samson pled guilty to bribery. United paid a $2.25 million penalty and agreed to substantially improve its compliance procedures. Neither Smisek nor other United officials were charged. Smisek has never commented.)

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The United board didn’t see a good internal candidate to replace Smisek, who had consolidated power by holding the positions of president, CEO, and chairman. One potential contender, CFO John Rainey, had already left to take the top financial job at PayPal PYPL 0.50% . The directors had hired an executive search firm to look at outside candidates if Smisek was forced to leave. But they wanted to avoid a long-term search that could leave United even more rudderless. Their fellow director Munoz, with his knowledge of the airline and track record at CSX, seemed the logical candidate.

Munoz recognized the opportunity. He felt that if he could fix morale at United, performance would follow. “There was a high level of distrust and disengagement with employees,” says Munoz today.

his heart attack wasn’t the only major hurdle Munoz had to overcome to start the turnaround at United. Just two months after receiving his heart transplant and days before he returned to work full-time on March 14, Munoz faced a potentially crippling proxy battle with investors.

Two Boston hedge funds that specialize in airlines—PAR and Altimeter—had decided they could no longer tolerate United’s terrible record and demanded major changes to the board. They supported the selection of Munoz as CEO but, given his lack of an operating background in airlines, argued that he needed guidance from directors with long experience in the industry. None of United’s 12 directors had ever worked for an airline. In a March 8 letter to the board, the two hedge funds castigated United’s board as “underqualified, ineffective, complacent, and entrenched.”

The hedge funds demanded a slate of six new directors headed by former Continental CEO Gordon Bethune, whom they wanted as chairman. For Munoz, naming Bethune chairman was a deal-breaker; he argued it would inflame the old divisions between United and Continental. But he also sought to avoid a debilitating fight with major investors. “I didn’t want weeks and months of cultural damage and brain damage that would continue to undermine the company.”

Munoz recognized the need to fortify the board with more airline experience. So on March 7 he had launched a preemptive strike by naming three new directors, including two airline -veterans—Air Canada veteran Milton and James Whitehurst, former COO of Delta.

穆諾茲建議任命米爾頓為董事長，并將他自己的晉升時間向后推遲一年直至2018年年中。他選擇經驗豐富的航空公司前高管擔任董事是最終促成談判成功的關鍵原因。兩家對沖基金最終放棄了任命白求恩為董事長的計劃。4月，雙方達成協議，同意任命三位新董事，其中兩人是由這兩家對沖基金所遴選。

如果體現一位航空公司高管是否成功的標準之一是能否和普通員工保持良好關系的話，那么穆諾茲無疑是極為成功的。他能夠非常自然地讓包括售票員和行李搬運工在內的基層員工們對他產生好感，并且和他們談笑風生。

他最近一次出差去休斯頓，晚上9點左右才到。到達機場后他直接去了維修機庫看望那里的機械師們。第二天早晨，他走遍整座機場，不停地和售票員和客戶服務員們聚在一起自拍，說些鼓舞士氣的話，然后走到停機坪上看望那些正在把行李從飛機行李艙轉移到行李傳送帶上的工人們?！拔以跈C庫里和舷梯上感覺很舒服自在，”穆諾茲說。另外，他還和一位卡車司機工會成員交談了30分鐘。這位工會成員在心臟移植手術后已經離開工作兩年，在兩天前才剛剛重返工作崗位。

早在他自己的心臟病發作之前，穆諾茲就已經做出了調整重要政策的計劃。過去，在斯米塞克管理下，美聯航曾經將杰克遜維爾和博伊西（Boise）等小城市機場的客戶服務和舷梯操作工作外包給非工會工人。而在CSX任職時經常往返杰克遜維爾的穆諾茲曾經親眼目睹過在這項外包政策下，技能低劣的新工人給旅客們造成的種種麻煩和不便。2015年秋季履新CEO職位后不久，他就果斷叫停了外包，從而贏得了各家工會的廣泛信任。

穆諾茲還在達成新空乘合同的過程中發揮了決定性作用。在斯米塞克時代，這項新合同的談判曾經陷入僵局?！爱敃r所有人都在整天無謂地打嘴仗、繞圈子，”前美聯航空乘，目前擔任全國空乘工會AFA會長的薩拉·尼爾森（Sara Nelson）說?！吧踔吝B員工的陪審義務補助這種小事都談不妥，更別說薪酬待遇這種重大問題了。談判持續了3年，真正解決掉的問題數量可能只有10%?！?/p>

達成協議是真正實現美聯航和大陸航空最終整合的關鍵一步：荒唐的是，現有規則禁止前大陸航空空乘人員登上美聯航在合并完成前擁有的飛機上工作，反之亦然。讓我們設想一下這個古怪情景：一架飛機晚點到達休斯頓，機上的“大陸航空”空乘人員已經完成了他們的工作班次。而這時盡管有一個“美聯航”空乘組無事可做，但卻不能登上這架航班飛往下一個目的地。

過去，美聯航認為它沒有義務提供等同于達美航空和美國航空的“市場”薪酬和福利標準。穆諾茲則從一個不同的角度看問題?！昂丸F路一樣，航空產業是一個遵循‘模式談判’的產業，”他說?！澳阋Ц断喈斢谑袌鰳藴实男匠?，才能最終落實合同。沒有合同，你和員工之間的關系就會非常脆弱?！庇谑?，穆諾茲直接插手制訂了更優厚的薪酬方案，從而打破了談判僵局。

Munoz proposed appointing Milton as chairman and deferring his own ascension for a year, until mid-2018. The choice of a seasoned airline veteran was crucial to forging a deal. The hedge funds dropped their demands for Bethune to head the board. In April the two sides reached an accord by agreeing to three additional directors, including two picked by the hedge funds.

if part of being a successful airline executive is connecting with the rank and file, Munoz checks that box easily. He’s a natural at charming and connecting with everyone from ticket agents to baggage handlers.

On a recent trip to Houston, Munoz arrived at around 9 p.m. and went directly to a maintenance hangar to meet with a crew of mechanics. The next morning he strolled through the airport taking selfies and giving pep talks to ticket agents and customer service folks, then descended to the tarmac to hang out with the workers who move bags from planes to carousels. “I feel most comfortable in the hangars and ramps,” says Munoz. He also met for 30 minutes with a Teamster who had returned to work two days earlier following a heart transplant, after two years off the job.

Even before his own heart attack, Munoz set a new tone with a crucial shift in policy. Under Smisek, United was outsourcing jobs to non-union customer service reps and ramp workers in small cities such as Jacksonville and Boise. Munoz, who regularly flew out of Jacksonville while at CSX, saw firsthand how the policy annoyed travelers, since inexperienced new hires frequently provided below-par service. Shortly after becoming CEO, in the fall of 2015, he halted the outsourcing, which went a long way toward winning the confidence of the unions.

Munoz also played a decisive role in clinching the new attendants’ contract. Under Smisek, the talks had been grounded. “It was a lot of stalling and talking around in circles,” recalls Sara Nelson, a United flight attendant who now heads the AFA, the national flight attendants’ union. “We couldn’t get past things like compensation for jury duty, let alone the big pay issues. Probably 90% of the issues weren’t settled after three years of talks.”

Reaching an agreement was essential to finally integrating United and Continental: Bizarrely, the rules barred the legacy Continental flight attendants from working on planes owned by United before the merger, and vice versa. Let’s say a plane arrived late in Houston and the “Continental” flight attendants onboard had finished their shift and a “United” reserve crew was free. The “United” attendants weren’t allowed to service the flight to its next connection.

Under the previous regime, United felt that it couldn’t afford to match the “market” wages and benefits paid by Delta and American. Munoz took a different view. “This is a pattern-bargaining industry, like railroads,” he says. “You need to pay market to get a contract at all, and without contracts, you have a poor relationship with workers.” So Munoz directly intervened to break the final deadlock, authorizing a more generous deal.

薪酬提高后，美聯航的準點率表現有了大幅度提升。根據FlightStats網站提供的統計數據，今年前三個季度，82%的美聯航航班在自計劃到達時間起的15分鐘內打開艙門 – 這同時也是行業內對“準點”的定義。這個數字比去年同期的77%提高了5個百分點。美聯航的準點率已經以2個百分點的優勢超過了美國航空，與達美航空的差距也從6個百分點縮窄為不到3個百分點。

現在，勞資關系已經歸于平靜，穆諾茲開始專注于提升機場網絡管理水平。他希望完全發揮美聯航旗下大量機場設施的潛力。把科爾比招于麾下則是實現這一跨越的關鍵舉措。

關于這位前美國航空總裁是如何空降美聯航的過程，圈內人都諱莫如深。但是《財富》了解到，早在美國航空董事長科爾比離職前兩周，穆諾茲和美聯航董事會就已經獲知了他即將離開美國航空的消息。令人們大感意外的是，美國航空董事會決定晉升COO羅伯特·伊索姆（Robert Isom）擔任總裁，并聲稱伊索姆繼任的是CEO道格·帕克（Doug Park），而非科爾比的職位，同時要求科爾比離職。讓美聯航感到高興的是，科爾比不受競業限制協議限制，可以自由地加入其他航空公司繼續工作?！奥牭较⒌哪且豢?，我不禁興奮地跳了起來，”穆諾茲說。

美國航空于8月20日下午4時15分公布了科爾比的離職消息，而美聯航則在4時18分宣布，科爾比將擔任美聯航總裁。脾氣暴躁的白求恩對這一職務變動表示贊賞?！昂芏嗳藭鲇谧晕冶Ｗo的目的，不愿意聘用能力強的人，”他告訴《財富》說?！暗悄轮Z茲敢于聘用最適合這個職位的人 – 科爾比。這讓我對他的好感增加了10倍?！?/p>

穆諾茲如此快速出擊是出于一個明顯的原因：通過各大樞紐機場把合適的飛機派往合適的地方正是科爾比的專長 – 同時也是任何航空公司實現盈利的基石。美聯航目前的網絡管理效率在三大航空公司之間最為薄弱，而科爾比深知解決問題的方法，并且在不久以前曾經幫助美國航空從美聯航手里拉來了不少客戶。

在丹佛郊區向飛行員們發表演講后，穆諾茲與親友共同慶祝他死里逃生一周年。他的妻子由于要照料他們四個子女中最小的男孩上中學，目前還住在杰克遜維爾。穆諾茲夫婦和他們小兒子的兩位朋友，以及他們的父母一道飛往芝加哥觀賞周末的體育比賽。周五，他們在芝加哥郊區觀看了公牛隊的籃球比賽（公牛隊獲勝），周日則在軍人運動場（Soldier Field）觀看了芝加哥熊隊迎戰來自杰克遜維爾美洲虎隊的橄欖球比賽（美洲虎隊獲勝）穆諾茲剛剛搬離杰克遜維爾不久。

周六晚，他們在一家餐廳觀賞了全國棒球聯盟冠軍系列賽首場比賽——小熊隊對陣洛杉磯道奇隊?！翱吹街ゼ痈缃忧蚴置咨w爾·蒙泰羅（Miguel Montero）打出了一記漂亮的滿貫本壘打，”出生于洛杉磯的穆諾茲說，“我不禁放棄了一貫支持的道奇隊，轉而成為小熊隊的球迷?！?/p>

這記本壘打發生10月15日。就在整整1年前的這天，穆諾茲正在掙扎著去打開他的公寓大門等待急救。對于一家急需重整旗鼓的老牌航空公司，很難想象還有誰比他更適合擔任這家公司的領導人。（財富中文網）

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作者：Shawn Tully

譯者：鄭立飛

The payoff has been a remarkable improvement in on-time performance. According to statistics complied by FlightStats, for the first three quarters of this year, 82% of United flights opened their doors at the gate within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival—the definition of “on-time.” That’s an improvement of five percentage points from the 77% number in the same period last year. United actually beat American by more than two points and narrowed the gap with Delta from six to under three points.

now that he has achieved labor peace, Munoz is focused on improving network management. He wants to fully exploit the potential of United’s powerful collection of hubs. And luring Kirby was essential in making the leap.

The story of how American’s president landed at United is a closely guarded secret, but Fortune has learned that Munoz and the board heard Kirby would be leaving American about two weeks before his departure. In a surprise move, American’s board had decided to promote its COO, Robert Isom, to president—tabbing Isom as the heir apparent to CEO Doug Parker rather than Kirby, and forcing Kirby’s departure. United got a big break because Kirby wasn’t restricted by a noncompetition agreement that would have prevented him from joining another airline for an extended period. “I jumped on it right away,” says Munoz.

American disclosed -Kirby’s departure at 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 29, and United announced his appointment as president at 4:18 p.m. The move wins praise from the crusty Bethune. “A lot of guys won’t hire strong people because they’re afraid of being overshadowed,” he tellsFortune. “But Oscar had the balls to hire Kirby—the right guy for the job. He rose 1,000% in my estimation.”

Munoz pounced for an obvious reason: Getting the rightsized planes to the right places, all funneled through hubs, is Kirby’s specialty—and the keystone of any airline’s profitability. Of the three mega-carriers, United’s network management is by far the weakest. And Kirby, who had been targeting United to win customers to American just a few months ago, knows its problems inside-out.

the weekend after this speech to the pilots near Denver, Munoz marked the anniversary of surviving his heart attack by celebrating with friends and family. His wife has remained in Jacksonville to allow the youngest of their four children, a teenage boy, to finish high school. The pair flew up to Chicago, accompanied by two of the son’s friends and their parents, for a sports super-weekend—featuring excursions to watch the Bulls on Friday (they won) and to Soldier Field to see the Bears lose to Munoz’s last hometown team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, on Sunday.

On Saturday night the group joined revelers in a restaurant to watch the Cubs defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in game one of the National League championship series. “When [Chicago catcher] Miguel Montero hit that grand slam,” says L.A. native Munoz, “I transferred my lifelong loyalty from the Dodgers to the Cubs.”

The home run came on Oct. 15—one year to the day after Munoz had managed to stumble to his apartment door, and salvation. For an airline in need of a comeback, it’s hard to imagine a better-qualified leader.