1. Jeff Smisek's father, Raymond, was a World War II bomber pilot.
16 Facts About Jeff Smisek
1. 2.
Jeff Smisek's mother, Betty, was a big-band singer with the USO.
3.
Jeff Smisek grew up on military bases around the United States and Europe until his parents permanently moved to San Antonio in 1963.
4.
Jeff Smisek started his career as a banker for Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York, now JP Morgan.
5.
Jeff Smisek spent the bulk of his career in leadership positions at Continental Airlines and United Airlines.
6.
Jeff Smisek became one of the chief architects of Continental's dramatic turnaround.
7.
Bethune once told USA Today that Jeff Smisek was the airline's savior.
8.
Jeff Smisek became chief operating officer in September 2008 and CEO in January 2010.
9.
Jeff Smisek oversaw the complex merger, which sought to combine route networks, negotiate new contracts with its employee groups, and merge and update disparate IT systems.
10.
From 2010 to 2015, Jeff Smisek tripled the value of United's stock.
11.
However, by late 2014 Jeff Smisek had regained the trust of Wall Street analysts after a strategy of cost cuts, share buybacks and conservative expansion of capacities.
12.
Jeff Smisek resigned from United on September 8,2015, following accusations that the airline had attempted to influence officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
13.
Jeff Smisek was never charged with wrongdoing and instead Port Authority Chairman David Samson was convicted of a felony for impeding an airport project to coerce United Airlines to fly to Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina, near a home that he owned.
14.
Jeff Smisek left United Airlines with a severance payment worth $28.8 million.
15.
Jeff Smisek was named Aviation Week's Person of the Year for 2010.
16.
Jeff Smisek is married to Diana Strassmann, an American economist, and has two children.