United Continental CEO Munoz suffers heart attack

The airline said Friday CEO Oscar Munoz had been admitted to the hospital, but did not provide any additional details.    New chief executive officer of United Continental Holdings Inc. Oscar Munoz reportedly suffered a heart attack late last week and has been undergoing treatment in a Chicago hospital, according to multiple media outlets.
   The airline said in a brief statement Friday Munoz “was admitted to the hospital on Thursday,” and that the company would “provide further details as appropriate.”
   Investors and analysts have already begun speculating as to who might replaced Munoz if he is forced to take an extended leave of absence from his post, but the airline has declined to comment.
   “In the meantime, we are continuing to operate normally,” said United.
   The 56-year-old Munoz joined United in September following the resignation of then-CEO Jeff Smisek, who left the company amid ongoing internal and federal investigations related his dealings with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
   Smisek had been the leader of the company since it was formed in a 2010 merger with Continental Airlines, a transition that was anything but smooth. In addition to the federal corruption investigation, United Continental has suffered from operational difficulties and poor labor relations since the merger.
   Munoz, a longtime United board member, previously served as president and chief operating officer of the Jacksonville, Fla.-based Class I railroad CSX.
   Situations like this one, in which a company’s chief executive is dealing with health issues, can create a difficult struggle between personal privacy and the right of investors and the general public to know what’s going on with leadership.
   Notable recent examples include Goldman Sachs Group CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who has said he plans to continue working during treatment after being diagnosed with lymphoma last month, and the infamous Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, whose battle with pancreatic cancer was kept secret leading up to his death in 2011.
   Munoz was scheduled to lead a meeting with representatives of pilot and mechanic labor unions on Thursday and host his first quarterly earnings call as CEO Oct. 22.
   Shares of United Continental closed at $55.97 on Friday, down 3.1 percent from the previous day’s closing price of $57.75, after the announcement of Munoz’s hospitalization. The company’s stock has now fallen nearly 24 percent from the 52-week high of $73.62 set in January.