YouSaid · the spoken record

Oscar Munoz

lines on the record: 32
first: 2018-08-23
most recent: 2018-08-23
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“It's not practical. I love what I do. I love my company before, and I really love my United Family today. So no regrets at all.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“This is a great company, importantly, probably of our greatest and most valuable asset is our humans and our people that work with us. And the level of spirit and service and caring that they're going to be increasingly given to you, I think it's going to make the difference. That plus digital is always, but I think the human aspect, we forget we are a person-to-person, human to human business, and all the other things don't matter as much.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Boy, that's another loaded question. Again, yes, we do. We have Wi-Fi and it's a huge focus for us. Some of the technology is evolving. Some of it's better than others. And so we have a mishmash. But again, remember, you're not in your living room streaming Netflix. You're 35, 40,000 feet in the air flying at 600 miles an hour. We forget that sometimes. And it is inconsistent, which is the worst thing that we can do to you as a customer. So we're working on that. But it'll take some time.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We generally, as an operation, don't want to hold anything because we have a schedule to keep. But if one of my gate agents sees a young woman with three kids running down, but our schedule says we close it in 30 seconds and she's a minute away or 10 minutes away, whatever, we have historically tended to shut the door to get it out on time. Again, we say nay, we are going to allow our gay agents to make that call and hold that aircraft for the right amount of time for the right person. You know, in the morning flight, you can let it go because you have other options. It's the last flight of the day you can hold it for someone. So we don't hold aircraft for anyone.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And then inevitably, you have false positives where you see something going on, and then we pull someone off the aircraft, or you have law enforcement meet them, and it turns out to be something different. And then, of course, we get sued, and that's always, it has been an argument for why we shouldn't do some of these things. I say may. I say, listen, we'll take the heat for the minority of things in order to fix the broader issue, because it's a real issue.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I just fundamentally as an individual and human don't understand how people can do things that we hear people doing. So that's just a personal opinion. In addition, people don't want to sit next to someone because of their race or their sex or their color. And frankly, I don't have a lot of time for that. This is where customer service for me personally kind of goes out the window and says, you know, you want to fly elsewhere because we don't want to deal with that. But the issues, the real issues of sexual harassment, safety in general is a very important one for us. We partner with the people. Sarah Nelson's here from the American Flight Attendant Organization. We listen to them because they're the ones that generally have to take some of the brunt of this. And it can be awful. And it's been quiet for a long time. It's been going on for a long period of time. And we just had a deaf year to it. And now the issue is that you have human trafficking, by the way, is another angle that we have to ask our flight attendants. How do you recognize it? How do you resolve it?”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And again, it sounds funny, but our flight attendants and our organization have to deal with this. And so, you know, back to we're putting humans and we're getting them comfortable, getting them on their seats, and then all of a sudden you have to deal with that. And that and many other issues that we...”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was a dog and a monkey, and somebody asked me earlier today which one was supporting. So I don't know that answer, but I said, no, listen, on a serious note, people that need things, the problem is it's abused because it's not regulated in any way, shape, or form, and anybody can get it. So we don't know. So if you have a need, I mean, so service animals for disabled veterans, for people that are blind, we bend over twice over backwards to ensure we take care of the people that truly need aspect. But when you get into the ridiculous stage where a peacock or two different animals and most of the consumers, I mean, if you have allergies, so all of that has to be modulated and worked, and there's no real rules around it. And so we've taken, along with the other airlines, a pretty harder stance is like we need to have some proof. You need to register the animal. It has to be of a general size. We have small ponies, snakes. I mean, there's a...”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, everyone's heard about the Peacock story, so I think I won't go into that one. We just had a recent experience where one of the emotional support animals required another emotional support animal”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, let me just a little bit of defensiveness on my part. We, as a company, because we understand how important pets are to folks, which you may not agree with given the circumstances, but we flew three times as many animals for people all over the world because no other airline really was doing that. So we were doing it as a customer aspect. When you open up the arm, there's that many animals across a lot of things. You introduce risk into it. And so what we've done is we de-risked the situation. We just brought that thing back down as to what kind of dogs we carry animals. That's very aligned with the rest of the airline world.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Four principles that are in order if you as an employee have any concern or any question about how to act, you deal with safety first. The number two, and this is a big change for us, it's caring, just the simple word caring. What does that mean? It can mean a lot to a lot of people, but it doesn't mean shutting the door. It doesn't mean yanking someone off the plane. It doesn't mean any of those things. And then you get to dependable and efficient, which are important. But there are four, they're simple, but carrying is number two.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, it's one of the dark moments in our time, and usually the question is, are you glad that's getting behind you or something? And I always say, no, I'm happy to be reminded at every day. And so is our company, because it's important to know how quickly things can go sideways on us. And so the circumstances that led up to that, all the different policies and procedures. In a nutshell, again, because safety and security and operational efficiency becomes so focused, and it's important that we do that, the rigor and discipline around safety, security, and operations doesn't necessarily apply to the comfort and the quality and the emotional connection as a human on customer service. And so our rules and procedures, you can't put always rules and procedures on how you treat another human being, which is why we've started over the last year something we call Core Four.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, that's one of safety is by far a top priority. Interesting, safety and security has been an increasing focus. So there'll be things that you as customers don't enjoy, you don't like for a lot of different reasons. Unfortunately, this time, this day and age, safety and security have to be our topmost concerns. Sometimes that gets in the way of a customer service you'd like or wish, but I think we'll all agree that safety and security are paramount.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Your predicate, I'm not in agreement with, we don't lose that much luggage. And if we do, we get it right to you. In fact, we instituted a policy last year. It used to be kind of onerous, where if indeed something got lost and we couldn't find it, we made you put, you know, we needed receipts for everything that was in your bag, including things who keeps receipts for your underwear and your toothbrush. So we instituted a thing. It's like, listen, you trusted me with your bag. We lost it. Here's $1,500 as soon as you ask. $1,200, I guess is the number because it's important for us to build the trust. We don't lose them that often. We need you to trust us. And when we do, we have to act on it very quickly.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, it's not an easy task anymore. You fairly recognized. So the further back you go, the less you're recognized. And the front of the cabin, it's almost impossible. And people do want to chat and provide input and feedback on many things. Obtrusive, yes. I've had people, like I'll put my headphones on and pretend to do something so I can try to sleep. They'll reach over and take it out. It gets worse. So I'll be in the smart person that I am. I went to the earbuds figure and they can't reach and get those. Oh, a contrarer. This guy reached in and grabbed this thing, which is a little obtrusive. Listen, it's all of us that are in this business do this a lot. And it's important to hear from your customers. And increasingly in our business, it's more positive.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We book through the normal channels, and it's positive space or space available, meaning outlook of light, and if it's booked, I'll find another flight like everyone else.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Nobody talks about that, but yeah, that's been an issue forever. I mean, you've got a corporate customer on a corporate discount. You're someone that booked far ahead. So usually, I mean, I don't know about you in the room. I don't usually ask who's sitting next to me, hey, by the way, how much did you pay for that ticket? But it is an issue, but it's not a significant one.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Probably in broad aspects, the further out you book, the better options that you have. But people use an interesting array of folks. So travel agents are still big customers of ours, and they're still part of it. Our direct channels for us, United.com, is a growing channel.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, consolidation has helped. I mentioned my railroad experience, and I think if you look at their history, I think the airline has closely followed the same evolution of less folks vying for the same amount of customers certainly as part of it. I think some discipline around how we invest, how much product we offer, how we price, and more importantly, how we are efficient. But underlying it all, I can never forget the fact that all this product is supported by the human beings that run the airline every single day.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“All the time at a low price to still having a relatively low economic price, but also adding all the product and value and schedule and efficiency that we've been able to do.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, a couple things. You're right, prices saw next year will be the 40th anniversary of deregulation, and so many new things have been offered, so many products. And to your point on pricing, I think the number is 40, 45 percent on an inflation adjusted basis. Prices are actually lower. Schedules are increased. We have much farther reach. But the customer has evolved as well. And again, as I said, we have 150 million of you wonderful people every year, and you all have opinions on various aspects. Not everyone dislikes things, but people that fly very infrequently. So for instance, luggage and a fee around luggage, if you haven't flown in a few years and now you have to pay it, you get angry. And so things have evolved. Good thing is the airline industry is generally profitable where you used to hear about us in bankruptcy every other day. And so we have to balance that history of providing everything you want.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“My doctor, who is a larger gentleman, I think would advise me. He advised me to go from vegan to what he calls flexitarian, meaning eat what the hell you want. But eat lots of it because you need to gain weight”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Not a lot because the job unfortunately takes you. I'm not Dennis Millenberg from Boeing. I ride bikes with him, but have my...”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think most people wouldn't ask the table because he's, I mean, we're always, I'm always running around. I just came back from Australia. No, there's no restrictions.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Other than my general counsel and a couple of folks to make sure they knew. But I did stand up at lunch and said, I'm not going to be back after lunch. I got to go to the hospital. I got this thing I got to do. But there's a classic line that I didn't mean to say the way I said it, but I said, I'll see you on the other side. And again, as you know, that could have a lot of meanings. I meant the most positive meaning, meaning, hey, I'll be back. And so the surgery went great. I was in and out. I was out of the, gosh, a 21-year-old beat me as far as the history of Northwestern Hospital, but I was out in about seven days. On Thursday, I was back in the office on Monday in smaller levels. No, we didn't tell the world, an analyst and investors that because they freak out. But I was spending a lot of time back”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“One of the most Byzantine processes of how you apply and what levels you're in and how all this gets worked. It's very well regulated and modulated so that people don't take advantage in any way, shape or form. But I was very fortunate. I was on a list. And on my birthday, ladies and gentlemen, on my birthday on the morning of, my doctor Anderson called and said, quote, have we got a kickass heart for you? And we happened to be at a meeting at United, kind of a strategy vision going forward that I was in the middle of it. I had come back from my heart attack and I had this device. And I stood up after lunch. We were determining actually the strategic future of the company where all the things that we've been able to do over the last couple years and all the things that we're doing. But I knew that morning had to go into the hospital that afternoon. And so I went to the meetings. What else am I going to do for the morning? And we were excited. And then I didn't say anything.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Now, we did travel around, and I'm fortunate enough to know people all over the country and was trying to figure out if there was something else, because most of us, guys in particular, think we can fix things, right? It's like, I'll just run it off or something. That is not true, ladies and gentlemen. You cannot fix these things. And what the doctors around the world that I trust and know told me, they said, sit your butt down and get the surgery because that's the only way you're going to live”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was a little surprised and a little hesitant. They talk about the fact that heart transplant surgeries are 93% successful, the actual surgery. And of course, us being who we are. It's like, what happens to the 7% Not a good answer on that one, by the way”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, as a quick public service announcement to all of us in the room, heart disease is the biggest killer in America, to be serious. Most, the reason why is most of us don't know we have it. My family background didn't allow me to understand a lot of my history. And so again, being relatively fit and eating crazy like a vegan, you think that nothing would happen and something did. And I think when you talk to cardiologists, when you talk to hard specialists, unfortunately, some of the things internal, your plumbing is what affects you so.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Of the more complicated questions in my life, right? And to add to that, by the way, my first daughter was getting married right around that timeframe, and we had the wedding plan. My wife's entire sole interest over the course of that momentous decision was you better get your father the bride speech done. No, it was a difficult. Listen, and there's some friends from CSX that are here today and it was a wonderful place. Frankly, I just thought I had another turnaround in me, A and B, when you meet the people of United and what we needed at United was someone that could relate to the everyday folks that we work with. And I thought I could do that better than most.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was an awkward moment. I'm the first to college, blue-collar family, and we were invited to an event that was a black tie optional event. I don't know what that means at that time, and my dad certainly didn't. And we had to walk across, first of all, we got stopped at the door because they said you must be lost because of the way we were dressed. You have to remember I was in high school. My hair was down to here. I grew up in Huntington Beach, so I was a surfer kid, and my hair was red and long and ratty, and I thought I looked good. So walking across a room of this size with all eyes upon you and then sitting at a table, everybody asking you questions like, who are you? What's your major? None of them things that I knew. So I knew that wasn't quite the right fit. And Southern Cal was just closer to home.”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“If you're an only child, it's probably hard to reference a good point view, but no, it was hectic. It was crazy. We shared everything. We had first and second lunch because we couldn't fit everybody at the first table. When I first brought my wife home for Thanksgiving, I said, okay, honey, let's just get ready, okay? This will be not normal That's”
2018-08-23 · The David Rubenstein Show · Oscar Munoz · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source