United Airlines CEO replaced in middle of federal investigation

[KamaAina]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-united-airlines-ceo-0909-biz-20150908-story.html

Chicago-based United Continental Holdings, parent of United Airlines, has replaced its CEO and two other top executives, saying the departures are linked to internal and federal probes associated with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey....

United, headquartered in Chicago's Willis Tower, said earlier this year that the company and some of its executives received subpoenas from a federal grand jury for information about dealings with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. United said at the time that, in response, it was conducting its own internal investigation....

Former Port Authority Chairman David Samson's activities have been the subject of document requests from the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey, including Samson's votes on United Airlines projects at Newark Airport at the same time United was restarting flights from Newark to Columbia, S.C., near where Samson has a vacation home.

United began direct flights from Newark to Columbia, reportedly called the "chairman's flight," after Samson became chairman and canceled the flights days after he resigned last year.

The Port Authority, you say? Could Krispy Kreme be mixed up in this?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. And he gets $5M+ in lovely parting gifts

[KamaAina]

2. Does he get a copy of the home game?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. "What's My Airline?"

[geek tragedy]

4. Did someone say hand in the cookie jar?

Smisek, Foxhall, and Anderson were among a group of United executives who donated a total of $31,500 toward Christie’s 2013 re-election effort. Those donations all were made between June 5 and June 17, 2013, just months before an August 23, 2013 meeting between Christie, Samson, and Smisek to discuss the airline’s operations in Atlantic City and other matters, presumably including the PATH extension referenced by Baroni weeks later.

Only two of the twelve United contributors to Christie’ listed New Jersey residences, and it was the only time that United’s management collectively donated to a New Jersey political campaign. In that particular cycle they represented the single largest pool of contributions from a publicly traded company and the third-largest pool overall, trailing a medical group and state employees.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/how-bridgegate-probe-into-christie-crony-got-united-airlines-chief-fired