Three United Airlines pilots that are members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) have aired their displeasure at the command of CEO Jeff Smisek in a letter to fellow members at an ALAPA Chapter in New York. The letter states that: “It’s time to find a new CEO who understands how to run an airline, not just make excuses for his failures” and that they “have absolutely zero confidence in the ability of present management to lead a turnaround.”
The letter also criticized the handling of the merger with Continental.
“[A] merger that should have been completed in three years or less remains incomplete after nearly four years (and) interdepartmental communication and cooperation are nearly nonexistent,” reads the letter, which also cites “terrible employee morale and excessive outsourcing… combined with chronic operational and IT issues” as a reason that United’s highest tier of frequent fliers have left the airline “in droves,” according to union leadership.
“No one else has a greater financial stake in United Airlines than the collective stake of our pilots,” the letter adds. “Our careers should not be jeopardized by the worst senior management in the airline industry.”