United's Counsel Steps In as Acting CEO for Ailing Munoz
- Board still evaluating `all potential outcomes' in leadership
- Hart's legal post means he's pivotal in response to U.S. probe
United Turns to General Council Hart as Acting CEO
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United Continental Holdings Inc. named General Counsel Brett Hart as acting chief executive officer during a medical leave for Oscar Munoz, who suffered a heart attack after little more than a month in charge of the world’s second-largest airline.
The appointment of an interim CEO, not a permanent replacement, damps some of the speculation swirling around United since it confirmed Friday that the 56-year-old Munoz had been hospitalized, without giving specifics. But in declaring the board’s options to be open and turning to its top legal official rather than an executive with an airline-operations background, United hasn’t settled all the questions about its next steps.