NEW YORK —United Airlines CEO Oscar Muñoz says he plans to return to work sometime in the first quarter of 2016.
Munoz, 56, has been on medical leave since Oct. 15, when he suffered a heart attack. The company’s general counsel, Brett J. Hart, has led the company in his absence.
“My time away will be a little longer than I would like, but based upon discussion with my doctors I will be back in the first quarter,” Muñoz said in a letter to employees and released by United.
Muñoz spent a month leading the Chicago-based United Continental Holdings before the heart attack. He became CEO on Sept. 8 after Jeff Smisek was pushed out amid a federal investigation into the airline’s dealings with the government agency running one of its most important airports.
During his short tenure, Muñoz has acknowledged that United had failed its passengers with chronic delays and computer outages and that it had poor relations with its workers. He promised to fix those problems.
Muñoz is a former Qwest Communications consumer division chief who left the troubled Denver company in 2001. He served as president and chief operating officer of CSX Corp. before accepting the job with United.
