United Airlines Elevates Former General Counsel to President
As general counsel, Brett Hart's move into the interim CEO role in 2015 after the United CEO had a heart attack made news at a time when head lawyers rarely took the top executive position.
May 12, 2020 at 03:55 PM
3 minute read
Brett Hart
After proving his leadership skills as general counsel when he stepped into the interim CEO role, United Airlines Inc. chief administrative officer Brett Hart has been tapped to be president.
Hart will officially assume his new role May 20 at United's annual shareholder meeting. According to United's press release, the succession plan includes CEO Oscar Munoz becoming executive chair and current president Scott Kirby becoming CEO.
As president of Chicago-based United, Hart will continue to lead the company's government affairs, corporate real estate and legal teams. Under his leadership, he'll also keep managing environmental sustainability, corporate communications and community engagement efforts. The overseeing of human resources and labor relations teams fall into his new role.
Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic pounding the travel industry, Hart, along with Munoz and Kirby, will forgo their salaries, a move many top in-house lawyers and other executives are undertaking in order to help their companies survive the current economic downturn.
"I am honored and energized as I take on these new responsibilities to lead this incredible team that I am convinced will build United into a thriving industry leader," Hart said in the release. "The path forward will not be easy, but I am confident that Scott and I will continue our partnership to lead United through the extraordinary challenge posed by COVID-19. United's bright future is only possible because of the commitment of the most talented airline professionals in the world who serve United and our customers every single day—and I could not be prouder of them."
United said it has no plans to replace the chief administrative officer role.
Hart, who became general counsel at United in 2010, replaced Munoz in 2015 for six months as CEO after Munoz had a heart attack and took subsequent medical leave for a heart transplant. At the time, Munoz had been CEO for one month.
Prior to United, Hart was executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at packaged desserts producer Sara Lee Corp. Before his in-house career, Hart was a partner at the now-defunct Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in Chicago. He's also served as special assistant to the general counsel at the U.S. Department of Treasury in Washington, D.C.
Hart serves on the board of directors for biopharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School.
Read More:
From General Counsel to President: A Q&A With Crawford & Company's Joseph Blanco
The GC to CEO Track: Top Lawyers Step Into the Highest C-Suite Role in 2019
New Doors Open for GCs: As the GC Role Grows, So Do Career Opportunities
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