As one United employee to another EX-employee: thanks for everything "Jeff".  Sounds like you could have made better choices in how you handled Mr. Samson. Enjoy your lump sum of $4.875 million.  Thanks, pal.

Source: Wall St. Journal
Authors: NATHAN BECKER and  TED MANN

United Continental Holdings Inc. said Chief Executive Jeff Smisek has left the company amid a continuing federal investigation, and the airline named CSX Chief Operating Officer Oscar Munoz as its next president and CEO.

United Continental said Mr. Smisek’s departure is related to federal and internal investigations associated with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

A Port Authority spokesman declined to comment.

The relationship between United and former Port Authority Chairman David Samson has been under investigation by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s office for more than a year. At issue, according to people familiar with the investigators’ inquiries, is whether Mr. Samson used his position as head of the Port Authority’s board to demand favorable treatment or personal benefit from United. The airline is the largest carrier by passenger volume at Newark Liberty International Airport and was seeking to renegotiate its lease agreement at the airport during Mr. Samson’s tenure.

Prosecutors have repeatedly subpoenaed records from the Port Authority, as recently as last month, that would date back to the early days of Mr. Samson’s tenure at the authority and that include correspondence and meeting records related to United’s attempts to negotiate an extension of its lease at Newark, according to people who have seen the subpoenas.

Among the areas of inquiry: a direct flight launched by United to Columbia, S.C., near where Mr. Samson keeps a vacation home. Published reports said the flight was referred to within the Port Authority as “the chairman’s flight.” It was cancelled soon after Mr. Samson retired from the Port Authority in 2014.

Mr. Samson has previously declined to comment on the federal inquiry through a spokeswoman. He has defended his tenure and his career in public service, including a stint as Attorney General of New Jersey.

In a February filing, United Continental said some of its executives and employees had received federal grand-jury subpoenas related to people formerly associated with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and that it was cooperating with the government’s investigation.

Mr. Smisek will receive an array of compensation following his departure, including a lump sum severance payment of $4.875 million in cash, according to a regulatory filing. He will also receive outstanding salary and vested benefits such as share awards, alongside continued benefits such as lifetime flight and parking benefits, and the title to his company car.

The former Continental Airlines CEO, who outgunned American Airlines’ CEO Doug Parker to take control of United through a merger agreement in 2010, is subject to a two-year noncompete agreement.

United Continental also said its executive vice president of communications and government affairs and its senior vice president of corporate and government affairs have stepped down, moves related to the investigation.

Mr. Munoz leaves CSX after several years as operating chief. He had held the post since 2012 and was chief financial officer for nearly a decade before that. He has served on United Continental’s board since 2010 and on Continental Airlines’ board from 2004 until the merger with United in 2010.

“Oscar’s track record demonstrates that he has the right blend of strategic vision and strong leadership to continue United’s upward trajectory,” said Henry Meyer, who was also named the company’s nonexecutive chairman.

United has seen a turnaround in its financials recently after a bumpy integration of United and Continental. It posted a record $1.1 billion profit last year. In July, the company announced a new $3 billion stock-buyback program and a sharply increased profit of $1.2 billion for its latest quarter.

Still, the company isn’t without glitches. In July, a computer problem temporarily grounded the company’s world-wide fleet. United Continental has also recently wrestled with unhappy unions, poor punctuality and a recent increase in maintenance-related delays and cancellations.