WEBVTT - Oscar Munoz 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:05.800 Five weeks after being named CEO of United Airlines, Oscar 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:09.080 Munos had a heart attack. Two months later, with a 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.600 new heart, he was back at work, where he was 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:15.240 faced with a company in disarray. His predecessor, Jeff's Missik, 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:17.880 had been caught in a federal corruption probe, and the 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:21.680 airline was still not fully integrated with Continental Airlines after 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.200 the merger of the two companies. Over the course of 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:29.560 the following year, Munos largely succeeded in turning around the airline, 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:34.400 boosting on time performance and renegotiating worker contracts. You knows 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.400 was so successful in his role that pr Week named 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:41.519 him the Communicator of the Year in March of However, 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:45.320 one month later, Minos faced another test after a ticketed 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:49.040 United passenger was forcefully removed from a flight, becoming a 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:52.440 national news story and a major headache for the company. 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:55.480 In the wake of the controversy, the United board decided 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.480 that Munos would not take over as chairman of the company, 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.280 as had been originally plug end, but he was able 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:04.800 to keep his job, although his salary for was just 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:08.920 half of what it was in He recently sat down 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.360 with Carlisle Group co founder David Rubenstein They spoke on 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:17.120 David Rubenstein's Bloomberg television program Peer to Peer Conversations. First, 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:20.080 I want to talk about an incredible story that many 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:22.840 here may not be familiar with. So let's talk about 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:26.479 your background initially to get to this story. You grew 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:31.039 up in California and you had eight siblings. I do, 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.039 And what does that like? I'm an only child. What 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.520 was it like when you have eight siblings? Is that 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:39.520 easy to do? Or if you're an only child, it's 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:41.840 probably hard to reference a good point of view? But 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:45.759 now it was hectic, it was crazy. Um, we shared everything. 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:49.160 We had first and second lunch because we couldn't fit 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:52.080 everybody at the first table. Um. When I first brought 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:56.440 my wife home for Thanksgiving, UM, I said, okay, honey, 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.520 let's just get ready. Okay, because this will be not normal. 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:01.760 It was great when you're growing up, you were a 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:03.680 must have been a good student. You got into Harvard, 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:07.560 then you chose not to go. Why was that? It 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:10.720 was an awkward moment? Um, I'm the first goal to 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:15.520 college came blue collar family. Uh, and we were invited 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:19.160 to an event that was a black tie optional event. 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:21.640 I don't know what that means at that time, and 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.320 my dad certainly didn't. And we had to walk across. 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:26.120 First of all, we got stopped at the door because 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:28.799 they said you must be lost because it the way 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:30.560 we were dressed. And I had to remember I was 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.440 in high school. My hair was down to here. I 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:35.560 grew up in Huntington Beach, so it was a surfer kid, 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:37.680 and my hair was red and long and ratty, and 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:41.359 I thought I looked good. Um, So walking across a 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:43.880 room of this size with all eyes upon you, and 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.920 then sitting at a table where everybody asking you questions 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:48.880 like who are you? What's your major? And none of 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:50.399 the none of things that I knew. So I knew 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:52.760 that wasn't quite the right fit. And Southern cal was 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:55.640 just closer to home in a great university. Have you 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:57.440 ever thought when you could have accomplished with your life 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.200 head you're going to Harvard? God knows that could be 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:12.720 in that seaton, right. So, Um, you went to U 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:16.919 s C. University of Southern California, and obviously did well. 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:19.720 You work your way up and ultimately you find yourself 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:23.919 at CSX, a railroad company, and you were working your weapon. 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:28.600 You were president and CEO. Is that correct? You're probably 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.160 about ready to be made CEO, and at the same 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.400 time you're on the board of a company called United Airlines. 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.600 So one day, Um, there's a need to have a 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:40.960 new CEO and they asked you to be the CEO. 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:45.040 And why did you want to leave Florida for Chicago? 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:46.680 And why did you want to give up running a 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:49.680 railroad which is maybe not as complicated as running an airline. 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:51.040 Why did you do want to do that? One of 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:53.680 the more complicated questions in my life right Uh. And 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:55.640 to add to that, by the way, my first daughter 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:58.400 was getting married, um, right around that time frame, and 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:01.760 we had the wedding plan. My wife entire sole interest 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:05.440 over the course of that momentous decision was you better 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:09.280 get your father the bride speech done. But now it 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.440 was a difficult It's listen, I and there's some friends 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:13.480 from CSX that are here today and it was a 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:16.479 wonderful place. Frankly, I just thought I had another turnaround 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.120 in me a and b Um, when you meet the 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:22.560 people of United and what we needed at United was 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:26.120 someone that could relate to the everyday folks that we 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:27.520 work with, and I thought I could do that better 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:30.479 than the most So one month after you take this job, 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.800 you get a heart attack. You never go to any 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:37.880 conversation without this one. But thirty eight days to be exact. 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:40.240 All right, So did you think maybe you had taken 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:43.479 the wrong job? It was too much pressure? And you 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.520 know you were a vegan and you were an exerciser 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:53.000 and you run marathons or so what went wrong? Um? 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:55.240 So it's a quick public service announcement to all of 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.360 us in the room. Heart disease is the biggest killer 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:01.640 in America. To be serious, Um, most the reason why 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:03.960 is most of us don't know we have it. My 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:07.240 family background didn't allow me to understand a lot of 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:10.760 my history. And so again, being relatively fit and eating 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.679 crazy like a vegan, you think that nothing would happen, 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.120 and something did. And I think when you talk to cardiologis, 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:19.159 we talked to hard specialists. Unfortunately. You know some of 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:21.679 the things internal you're plumbing is what affects you. So 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:23.680 so you have your heart attack and then they come 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:27.000 in and say, guess what, you need a heart transplant? Yeah, 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:29.440 so were you a little surprised about that? It was 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:31.880 a little surprised and a little hesitant. Um. You know, 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:34.840 they talk about the fact that heart transplant surgeries are 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:40.160 ninety three percent uh successful the actual surgery, and of 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:42.640 course us being who we are, it's like, so what 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:47.200 happens to the seven percent? Not a good answer on 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:48.560 that one, by the way, So when they came in 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:50.880 and told you you needed a heart transplant, did you 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:53.839 ask for a second opinion or anything like that. We 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:56.400 did travel around and I'm unfortunate enough to know people 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:58.720 all over the country, and I was trying to figure 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:00.440 out if there was something else because more to us 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:02.600 guys in particular, I think we can fix things. Right. 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.440 It's like I'll just you know, run it off or something. Um. 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:07.840 That is not true, ladies and gentlemen, you cannot fix 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:10.279 these things. And what the doctors around the world that 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:13.000 I trust and no told me, They said, sit your 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.000 butt down and get the surgery because that's the only 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.160 way you're gonna live. Okay, It's one thing to say 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:19.240 you need a hard transplant, but you gotta get a heart. 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:21.480 So I don't get the weight online for a long time. 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:23.600 How did you? How did you get a heart? It 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:25.880 is the most one of the most byzantine processes of 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:28.440 how you apply and what levels you're in and how 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:31.120 all this gets worked. It's very well regulated and and 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.480 modulated so that people don't take advantage in any way, 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.800 shape or form um. But I was very fortunate I 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:40.680 was on a list and uh on my birthday reason 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:42.880 John On on on my birthday, in the morning of my 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:46.440 doctor Anderson called and said, quote, have we got a 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:50.159 gas heart for you? Um, and we happen to be 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:52.560 at a meeting in uh United It's kind of a 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:55.039 strategy vision going forward that were I was in the 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:56.600 middle of it. I had come back from my heart 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:59.400 attack and I had this device and I stood up 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:02.599 after launch. We're determining actually the strategic future of the 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:04.800 of the company, where all the things that we've been 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:06.159 able to do with the last couple of years and 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:07.920 all the things that we're doing. But uh, as we 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:10.760 bro I knew that morning I had to go into 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:13.680 the hospital that afternoon, and UH so I went to 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:15.320 the meetings because what else am I going to do 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:17.800 for the morning. Uh, And we were excited. And then 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.280 I didn't say anything other than my general council and 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:22.000 a couple of Boloks to make sure they knew. But 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:23.920 I did stand up at lunch and said I'm not 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:25.480 going to be back after lunch. I gotta go to 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.320 the hospital. I got this thing I gotta do. But 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:30.440 there's a classic line that I didn't mean to say 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:32.880 the way I said it. But I said, I'll see 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.560 you on the other side. And again, as you know, 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:38.400 they could have a lot of meetings. Uh, I meant 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:40.840 the most positive meeting meeting. Hey, I'll be back. And 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.320 so the surgery was went great. I was in and out. 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.080 I was out of the gosh, a twenty one year 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:48.560 old beat me as far as the history of Northwestern Hospital. 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:51.280 But I was out in about seven days. I don't 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.160 know Thursday. I was back in the office on Monday 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:56.080 in smaller levels. Now we didn't tell the world an 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:58.840 analyst and investors that because they freaked out, But I was. 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:00.400 I was spending a lot time back in the office. 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.600 All right, So today you're in pretty good shape. You 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:05.280 have a hard transplant, but other than immune issues from 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:07.720 time to time, you're feeling as good as you could 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:11.480 possibly feel. I think most people wouldn't ask the table. Yes, 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:14.280 he's I mean, we're always I'm always running around. I 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:17.160 just came back from Australia. And then now that there's 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.000 no restriction, and you still exercise a lot, not a lot, 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:23.280 because the job unfortunately takes you up. I'm not Dennis 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:25.960 Mullenberg from boring. I ride bikes with him. But so 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:28.800 I haven't thought that maybe exercising and being a vegan 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:31.440 isn't such a good thing, and maybe don't exercise and 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:33.319 eat all the meat would be better. Have you ever 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:36.760 thought of that? Uh? My doctor, who is um a 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:39.680 larger gentleman, I think, would advise me. He advised me 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.760 to go from vegan to what he calls flexitarian, meaning 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:45.400 eat what the hell you want. Um all right, but 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:47.080 hea lots of it's because you need to gain weight, 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:49.840 all right. So let's talk about the airline industry that 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:57.200 you're now. Thank you, all right. People love to fly 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:00.120 around the world at relatively low prices. But why is 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.360 it that generally the public doesn't seem to like airlines. Well, 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.439 a couple of things. You're right, prices, Since so next 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:09.720 year will be the forty anniversary of deregulation, and so 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:12.280 many new things have been offered, so many products, and 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.160 to your point on pricing, I think the numbers forty 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:21.400 on inflation adjusted basis prices are actually lower schedules are increased, 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:25.400 we have much further reach. Um. But the customer has 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.280 evolved as well. And again, as I said, we have 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:31.040 a hundred and fifty million of you wonderful people every year, 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:34.080 and you all have opinions on various aspects. And um, 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:38.000 you know, not everyone dislikes things, but people that fly 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:42.360 very infrequently. So for instance, uh, luggage and a fee 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:44.200 around luggage that if you haven't flown in a few 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:46.080 years and now you have to pay it, you get angry. 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:49.240 And so things have evolved. Good thing is the airly 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:52.199 industry is generally profitable. Where you used to hear about 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:55.040 us in bankruptcy every other day, And so we have 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:58.480 to balance that history of providing everything you want all 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:01.880 the time at a low price to still having a 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.760 relatively low economic price, but also adding all the product 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:07.240 and value and schedule and efficiency that we've been able 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:09.200 to do in the old days. You pointed out old 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:11.120 days thirty years ago or so, a lot of airlines 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:12.600 were going out of business. I've read about the old 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:17.440 days and Grand f t W A Trump shuttle. They're 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:20.440 not around anymore. Um, I don't know what happened not 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:24.000 going there, So I don't know that They've you ever 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:26.280 fly on the Trump shuttle? I don't know. But uh so, 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:28.760 why are there so many airlines that went out of 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:30.800 business but today the airline seemed to be profitable? Was 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:33.160 that because you the algorithms have worked, so you know 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:37.240 how to actually have not too many empty seats? Well, um, 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.760 consolidation has helped. Um. I mentioned my railroad experience, and 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.000 I think if you look at their history, I think 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:46.679 the airline has closely followed the same evolution of less 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:49.720 folks vying for the same amount of customers. Uh certainly, 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.240 as part of it, I think some discipline around how 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:55.160 we invest, how much product we offer, how we price, 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:58.200 and how more importantly, how we're efficient. But underlying it all, 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:01.080 I can never forget the fact that this product is 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.080 supported by the human beings that run the airline every 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:07.360 single day. What's the best way to get the lowest 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:09.959 price of people go online and book it themselves, that 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:14.520 to go through a travel agent. Probably in broad aspects, 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:17.760 the further out you book, the better options that you have. 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:21.040 But people use an interesting array of folks. So travel 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:23.880 agents are still big customers of ours, and they're still 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.360 part of it. Our direct channels for US United dot 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:29.000 Com is a growing channel. So is it possible that 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.640 somebody could be sitting next to somebody else on airline 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:34.320 he or she paid a lower price in the person 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:37.800 sitting right next to him or her. Nobody talks about that. 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:39.920 But yeah, it's been an issue forever. I mean, you've 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:42.400 got a corporate customer on a corporate discuss us someone 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:44.880 that booked far ahead. UM. So usually, I mean I 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:46.360 don't know about you in the room. I don't usually 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:48.040 ask who's sitting next to me here? By the way, 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.160 how much did you pay for that ticket? Um? But 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:52.920 it is an issue, but it's not a significant one. Well, 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:55.200 let's talk about you're flying. Um, I assume you're not 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:59.240 flying on private planes anymore. Uh. No, you gotta eat 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.600 with your cooks. I'm I'm very comfortable with our wonder right. 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:04.319 So when you want to need a reservation, you have 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:06.640 any problems getting uh you know, getting a seat or 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:11.160 anything in a We booked through the normal channels, and 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:14.160 what we call it, it's it's positive space or space availably, 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:17.040 meaning I'll look of light and if it's booked, I'll 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:19.280 find another flight like everyone else. Can you be you 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.080 on your airline and not have people come up and 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:22.920 tell you what you should do better or bother you 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:25.360 or is that how does that work? Yeah, it's not 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:29.120 not an easy task anymore. Pet. You're fairly recognized. So 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:32.000 the further back you go, the less you're recognized. In 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.200 the front of the cabin, it's almost impossible. And people 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:36.640 do want to chat and provide input and feedback on 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:40.880 many things. Obtrusive. Yes, I've had people you know, read like, 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:43.400 I'll put my my headphones on and pretend to do 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.240 something so I can try to sleep. They'll reach over 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:50.200 and take it out. It gets worse. Um, so I'll 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:51.920 be in the smart person that I am. I went 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:54.320 to the earbuds, figured they can't reach and get those. 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:59.440 Oh contrary, this guy reached in and grabbed this thing, 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:03.120 which is at all obtrusiapan no listen, it's um. All 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.320 of us that are in this business do this a lot, 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:08.480 and it's important to hear from your customers and increasing 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:10.319 in our business it's more positive. But you have a 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:12.600 lot of people in first class whop when they don't 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:14.480 like something, they say, do you know who I am? 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.280 You had a lot of that. We have wonderful customers 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:21.160 who have a very high degree of self impoint. I 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:28.680 guess one percentage of luggage is lost by the industry generally. 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:32.679 I'm sure yours is better, but by complaints, uh per 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:35.800 I think a thousand employments, it's like three per thousand 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:37.839 over the course of time. And the best way to 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.199 avoid ahead of your luggage lost is do what just 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:46.920 carry it on or your predicate I don't not an agreement, 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:49.280 which we don't. We don't lose that much luggage, um 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:51.040 and if we do, we get it right to you. 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:53.480 In fact, we institute it into policy last year. It 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:55.840 used to be kind of owners where if indeed something 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.880 got lost and we couldn't find it, we made you 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.599 put you know, we needed receipts for everything that was 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.160 in your bag, including things you know, I mean, who 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:06.920 keeps receipts for your underwear and your toothbrush? So we 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:08.839 institute it a thing. It's like, listen, you trusted me 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:12.640 with your bag, we lost it. Here's as soon as 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:15.559 you ask. I guess in the number. Because it's important 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:18.040 for us to build the trust. We don't lose them 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.040 that often. We need you to trust us, and what 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:21.880 we do we have to act on it very quickly. 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:24.440 And now in the old days, the old old days, 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.440 people were worried about the safety of flying. Today if 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:29.520 people care about the safety very much and you don't 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:31.680 have a lot of accidents in the industry now, um, 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:34.560 you know that's that's one of the safety is by 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:38.320 far tipe priority. Interesting, safety and security has been an 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:41.080 increasing focus. So there'll be things that you as customers 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:44.280 don't enjoy, you don't like for a lot of different reasons. Uh, 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:46.480 it's just unfortunately, at this time, at this day and age, 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.400 with safety and security have to be our top most concerns. 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.160 Sometimes that gets in the way of a customer service 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:54.560 you'd like or wish. But I think we'll all agree 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.120 that safety and security or paramount. So let's talk about 0:14:57.120 --> 0:14:59.680 some of your specific issues that have arisen recently. You're 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:03.680 probably familiar with them, so, um no, but I'm sure 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:07.920 you're going to remind me. Okay, there was a flight where, um, 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:10.840 I think there were some United employees that needed to 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:12.720 go somewhere and you were trying to get people to 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:14.440 get off the airline. You offer money, which is a 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:16.720 fairly standard thing to do, and one person said, I 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:18.600 can't get off. I'm a doctor, I have to operate 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.120 in the morning and not united, but the local police 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.800 dragged him off. Yeah, it's, you know, one of the 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:28.520 dark moments and in our in our time, and usually 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.160 the question is are you glad that's getting behind you 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:34.200 or something? And I always say now, I'm happy to 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:37.200 be reminded of it every day begin and so is 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:39.320 our is our company because it's important to know how 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:42.160 quickly things can go sideways on us. And so the 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.000 circumstances that led up to that, all the different policies 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:48.640 and procedures in a nutshell again because safety and security 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:52.800 and operational efficiency becomes we become so focused and it's 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:56.640 important that we do that. The rigor and discipline around safety, 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:00.640 security and operations doesn't necessarily apply to the comfort and 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:04.440 the and the quality and the emotional connection as a 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:08.520 human on customer service. And so are rules and procedures. 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:11.760 You can't put always rules and procedures on how you 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.680 treat another human being, which is why we've started UH 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.600 over the last year something we call Core four and 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.080 it's and it's four principles that are in order. And 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:23.200 if you, if you as an employee, have any concern 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:25.760 or any question about how to act. You deal with 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:28.400 safety first, the number two, and this is the big 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:32.280 change for us. It's caring. Just the simple word caring. 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:34.160 What does that mean? Can mean a lot to a 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:36.480 lot of people. But it doesn't mean shutting the door, 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.080 It doesn't mean yanking someone off the plane, doesn't mean 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:41.200 any of those things. And then you get to dependable 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:44.040 and efficient, which are important, but there are four. They're simple, 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:46.520 but carrying the number two. So let's talk about another 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:48.840 problem you had, which was dogs. You're not the only 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:53.320 one to have dogs die and overhand compartments. Yeah, let 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:55.400 me just a little bit of defensiveness on my part. 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.360 We we as a as a as a company because 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:00.640 we understand how important pets are. The fall, which you 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.600 may not agree with given the circumstances, but we flew 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.720 three times as many animals for people all over the 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:09.520 world because no other airline really was doing that. So 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:11.840 we're doing it as a customer aspect. When you open 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.639 up the arm to that many animals across a lot 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:17.280 of things, you introduced risk into it. And so um, 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:19.840 what we've done is we derisk the situation. We just 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:22.480 brought that things back down is to what kind of 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.840 dogs we carry animals. That's very aligned with the rest 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:27.760 of the airline world. We've noticed a lot of people 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:31.200 have things called emotional support animals or something like that, 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:33.560 where they get a certificate from a doctor saying I 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:36.280 can't travel without this animal, whatever the animal might be. 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:39.359 Are people abusing that and you're getting a lot of 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:42.680 big animals on your planes as a result. Yeah, y'all, 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.159 anyone's heard about the peacocks story, so I think that 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:47.280 won't go into that one. We just had a recent 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:51.879 experience where one of the emotional support animals wait for it, 0:17:52.240 --> 0:18:02.440 required another emotional support animals. Uh. So it was a 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:04.879 dog and a monkey. And somebody asked me earlier today 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:08.680 which one was supporting so and I don't know that answered, 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:12.520 but I said, no. Listen, on a serious note, people 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:16.240 that need things. Uh you know, the problem is it's 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:19.440 abused because it's not regulated in any way, shape or form, 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:21.280 and anybody can get in and so we don't know. 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:24.080 So if you have a need, I mean so service 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:27.080 animals for disabled veterans, for people that are blind. We 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:30.560 bend over twice over backwards to ensure we take care 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:32.840 of the people that truly need aspect, but when you 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:35.360 get into the ridiculous stage where a peacock or two 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:37.920 different animals and most of the consumers I mean if 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:39.800 you have allergies, so all of that has to be 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.200 modulated and worked and there's no real rules around it. 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:45.720 And so we've taken, along with the other airlines, pretty 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:48.240 harder stance. It's like, we need to have some proof, 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:50.440 you need to register the animal. It has to be 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:55.560 of a general size. We have small ponies, snakes, I mean, 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.320 there's a and again it sounds funny, but our flight 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:02.240 attendants an organization have to deal with this. And so 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:05.080 you know, back to we're putting humans and we're getting 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:07.440 uncomfortable getting them on their seats, and then all of 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:09.680 a sudden you have to deal with that and that 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:11.520 and many other issues that we How do you deal 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:16.320 with sexual harassment? Yeah, I just fundamentally, as an individual 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:20.480 human don't understand how people can um do things that 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:23.879 we hear people doing. So that's just a personal opinion. Um. 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:26.360 In addition, people don't want to sit next to someone 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:28.600 because of their race, or their sex, or their color, 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:30.800 and frankly, I don't have a lot of time for that. 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:33.280 This is where customer service for me personally kind of 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:35.080 goes out the window and says, you know, you want 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:37.040 to fly us elsewhere because we don't want to deal 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:39.480