此刻，奧斯卡·穆諾茲（Oscar Munoz）正在向飛行員們講述他命懸一線的那一天。“我想和你們所有人分享那些讓我死里逃生的建議，”他說。

這是十月中旬一天。這位美聯(lián)航大陸航空的CEO正手持麥克風(fēng)站在丹佛郊外一家麗笙酒店的會(huì)議室里。他身著藍(lán)色上衣和灰色休閑褲，向正在這里參加公司年度培訓(xùn)的250位資深飛行員發(fā)表講話。

這位富于魅力的57歲CEO用幽默感征服了在座的聽眾。他說，和氣氛沉重的去年（當(dāng)時(shí)，美聯(lián)航和飛行員工會(huì)還未就薪酬水平更高的延期合同達(dá)成一致。）相比，同一批聽眾在今年的心情要輕松愉快許多。“去年，會(huì)議室里的所有人都對(duì)我怒目而視。” 穆諾茲回憶說。

但是，他興高采烈的神情突然間暗淡下來。穆諾茲提到的2015年10月15日清晨發(fā)生的事情讓整個(gè)房間陷入沉寂。他對(duì)全神貫注的聽眾說：“這周是我心臟病發(fā)作一周年。”

當(dāng)時(shí)，在完成早鍛煉后，穆諾茲正在返回他在芝加哥市中心租賃的寓所。這位健身達(dá)人一直堅(jiān)持吃素食，就在短短幾周前，他還剛剛參加過一場(chǎng)鐵人三項(xiàng)賽。電話鈴響起的時(shí)候，他正在攪拌蛋白奶昔。“在我去接電話時(shí)，腿突然開始打顫。”

他突然記起了一位和他一起慢跑的心臟病專家朋友曾經(jīng)說過的話。“他說，‘你要是感覺不對(duì)，馬上打911告訴他們現(xiàn)在你的位置。你可能連第一個(gè)電話都堅(jiān)持不過去’。”

穆諾茲立即抓起固定電話,撥打了911并且告訴接線員他的地址. “要知道我曾經(jīng)在美國電報(bào)電話公司（AT&T）工作過。”穆諾茲調(diào)侃到。然后恍惚中記得門被鎖上，他就在半昏迷狀態(tài)下跌跌撞撞地穿過公寓房間去把門打開。剛把門打開，他就倒在了衣柜門上撞破了鼻子。很快，醫(yī)療急救人員沖進(jìn)了房間。他回憶到，在撥打911電話37分鐘后，他已經(jīng)躺在西北紀(jì)念醫(yī)院（Northwestern Memorial Hospital）的呼吸機(jī)上。

這次瀕死體驗(yàn)發(fā)生在穆諾茲擔(dān)任美聯(lián)航CEO的第38天。這使得在他就任美聯(lián)航CEO后的頭7個(gè)月內(nèi)，有6個(gè)月的時(shí)間都是在一系列斷斷續(xù)續(xù)的治療中度過的。1月5日他生日那天，他接受了為時(shí)11個(gè)小時(shí)的心臟移植手術(shù)。（醫(yī)生告訴他，心臟捐獻(xiàn)者是一位30歲的年輕人，但是沒有透露更多信息。）他的身體狀況在短短2個(gè)月內(nèi)迅速恢復(fù)，然后重返工作崗位。穆諾茲是為數(shù)不多的幾位在接受了心臟移植后仍然繼續(xù)履行高管職務(wù)的大企業(yè)CEO之一。“這是有史以來最激動(dòng)人心的勵(lì)志故事，”加拿大航空前總裁，今年3月剛剛應(yīng)穆諾茲之邀加入美聯(lián)航董事會(huì)并擔(dān)任董事長的羅伯特·米爾頓（Robert Milton）說。“我加盟美聯(lián)航的原因之一就是想幫這位老兄取得成功。”

Oscar Munoz is telling his pilots about the day he almost died. “I want to share with all of you the advice that saved my life,” he says.

It’s mid-October and the CEO of United Continental UAL is standing, microphone in hand, at one end of a conference room in a Radisson hotel outside Denver. Dapper and relaxed in a blue blazer and gray slacks, Munoz is here to address 250 of the airline giant’s veteran pilots, who have flown in for annual training exercises.

The charismatic 57-year-old executive has already won the room over with his sense of humor, pointing out that today’s crowd is in a far more jubilant mood than the tense group at the same event last year—before the company and the pilots’ union had agreed to a generous contract extension. “I was facing a room full of fingers pointing at me,” he says.

But suddenly his sunny mood turns somber. The room grows quiet as Munoz recalls the morning of Oct. 15, 2015. “This is the anniversary week of my heart attack,” he tells his rapt audience.

Munoz had just returned to his downtown Chicago rental apartment after an early-morning workout. The fitness freak—who had completed a triathlon weeks earlier and maintained a vegan diet—was mixing a protein shake when the phone rang. “As I went to answer, my legs buckled.”

The words of a cardiologist friend he jogs with suddenly came to him. “He said, ‘If you ever feel something weird, call 911, and tell them where you are. You may not get past that first phone call.’?”

Munoz grabbed his landline—“I used to work for AT&T”—dialed 911, and sputtered his address. Then, remembering that he had locked the front door, he stumbled across the apartment in a stupor. Just as he got the door unlocked, he tumbled backward into a closet door, breaking his nose in the fall. Moments later the paramedics rushed in. Within 37 minutes of making the 911 call, he recounts, he was on life support at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The near-death experience occurred on Munoz’s 38th day as United’s CEO. And it marked the start of a series of medical trials that, on and off, kept him sidelined for six of his first seven months at United. On Jan. 5, his birthday, Munoz received a heart transplant in an 11-hour operation. (He’s been told the donor was a 30-year-old but has no further information.) But he returned to the job after an extraordinarily brief recovery of just over two months. In fact, Munoz is one of the very few CEOs of a major company to ever continue in the top job after receiving a heart transplant. “This is the craziest human-interest story ever,” says Robert Milton, the former chief of Air Canada who joined the United board in March at Munoz’s behest and now serves as chairman. “I took the job in part because I wanted this guy to win.”

另一位新任董事，來自PAR資本（今年早些時(shí)候曾經(jīng)威脅爭(zhēng)奪董事會(huì)代表權(quán)，后來與穆諾茲達(dá)成協(xié)議的兩家對(duì)沖基金之一）的埃德·沙彼羅（Ed Shapiro）說：“真正讓我們印象深刻的是，他是冒著生命危險(xiǎn)來領(lǐng)導(dǎo)美聯(lián)航的。他本可以說，‘我得了要命的病，沒法繼續(xù)工作’，但它選擇了回來繼續(xù)承擔(dān)這份壓力巨大的工作。”

和穆諾茲的回歸一樣引人矚目的是他為扭轉(zhuǎn)這家多年來身陷困境、四分五裂的航空公司命運(yùn)所做的艱苦努力。他與公司四大工會(huì)達(dá)成協(xié)議，解決了持續(xù)數(shù)年的勞資沖突；他聘用了來自競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的高管；他提高了美聯(lián)航的準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)到達(dá)率。華爾街已經(jīng)開始關(guān)注這些動(dòng)向：在截至11月初的短短4個(gè)月時(shí)間里，美聯(lián)航股價(jià)飆升了44% ——把競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手美國航空（37%）和達(dá)美航空（17%）拋在身后。事實(shí)上，穆諾茲回歸美聯(lián)航的舉動(dòng)將會(huì)極大改變規(guī)模達(dá)7,000億美元的全球航空業(yè)的平衡。

在幾小時(shí)的采訪過程中，穆諾茲為《財(cái)富》獨(dú)家詳細(xì)介紹了美聯(lián)航雄心勃勃的目標(biāo)、實(shí)現(xiàn)目標(biāo)所需的戰(zhàn)略、以及他如何九死一生并成功康復(fù)的驚險(xiǎn)歷程。

美聯(lián)航和大陸航空2010年失敗的合并造成了災(zāi)難性的后果。自那時(shí)起，美聯(lián)航的業(yè)績(jī)就一直乏善可陳。穆諾茲擔(dān)任CEO之前，美聯(lián)航與空乘和地勤的合同談判一直延宕了多年也未達(dá)成一致，公司勞資關(guān)系一直處于緊張狀態(tài)。在美國四大航空公司之中，美聯(lián)航的航班準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)率一直位列末席。

由此，美國航空產(chǎn)業(yè)逐漸形成了很多專家都認(rèn)為將會(huì)持續(xù)多年的層級(jí)結(jié)構(gòu)。在美國三大航空公司中，達(dá)美航空以高可靠性、強(qiáng)大的盈利能力和高市場(chǎng)占有率扮演著龍頭老大的地位。美國航空則在與全美航空合并之后穩(wěn)居次席。

排名第三的美聯(lián)航存在的問題已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不止可靠性差和機(jī)艙服務(wù)態(tài)度惡劣兩條。近年來，在一系列并購活動(dòng)后，美國航空市場(chǎng)只剩下了四大航空公司（包括廉價(jià)航空的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者西南航空）。從而使這一市場(chǎng)的盈利能力大增。然而，美聯(lián)航卻沒有及時(shí)抓住美國國內(nèi)航班密集、票價(jià)堅(jiān)挺的機(jī)會(huì)擴(kuò)大經(jīng)營規(guī)模，而是側(cè)重于經(jīng)營連接美國和亞洲、歐洲的航線。

為了扭轉(zhuǎn)這種不利局面，穆諾茲做出了一系列大膽舉措，其中包括一項(xiàng)重大招募行動(dòng)。今年8月，美聯(lián)航將曾經(jīng)長期擔(dān)任美國航空總裁的斯科特·科爾比（Scott Kirby）納入麾下并擔(dān)任相同職位，使業(yè)界深受震撼。科爾比擅長精心編制航班計(jì)劃以增加盈利航線的數(shù)量，被譽(yù)為業(yè)內(nèi)最佳的“網(wǎng)絡(luò)管理者”。

穆諾茲正是想利用科爾比的網(wǎng)絡(luò)開發(fā)能力縮短與美國航空和達(dá)美航空的差距。事實(shí)上，由于航空燃料價(jià)格大幅下跌，以及業(yè)內(nèi)并購所導(dǎo)致的航空公司平均飛機(jī)數(shù)量大增，三大航空公司目前均能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)盈利。盡管如此，美聯(lián)航卻在關(guān)鍵財(cái)務(wù)指標(biāo)上遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)落在它的兩大競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手身后：2016年頭9個(gè)月，美聯(lián)航的運(yùn)營利潤率為14.5%，遠(yuǎn)低于達(dá)美航空的19.7%，比美國航空的16.3%也要低將近兩個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。

美聯(lián)航能夠強(qiáng)勢(shì)東山再起的原因在于：美聯(lián)航擁有三大航空公司中最優(yōu)越的樞紐機(jī)場(chǎng)網(wǎng)絡(luò)。在大多數(shù)重點(diǎn)城市的航空市場(chǎng)，它總是排名首席或次席 – 在丹佛、休斯頓、紐約紐瓦克、舊金山排名第一，在華盛頓排名第二。“關(guān)鍵在于是否能把我們未曾開發(fā)的潛力全部開發(fā)出來，”美聯(lián)航董事長米爾頓在他位于芝加哥威利斯大廈11層的辦公室表示。身材苗條、精神抖擻的穆諾茲看起來并沒有最近接受過心臟移植這種大手術(shù)的任何跡象。他存在健康問題的唯一表現(xiàn)是右手抓握時(shí)的些許無力感。（他已經(jīng)恢復(fù)了騎行鍛煉，但在左側(cè)車把上安裝了能給前輪和后輪同時(shí)剎車的特殊剎車手柄。）但至少他現(xiàn)在能握手，而在一兩個(gè)月前，他的抓握能力尚在恢復(fù)中，只能和別人行碰拳禮。為了增強(qiáng)體力，他的飲食由全素改成了偶爾吃葷，他的菜譜中加入了魚肉和禽肉。

美聯(lián)航正在采取引人注目的舉措吸引商務(wù)旅客。今年12月，美聯(lián)航將正式啟動(dòng)一項(xiàng)稱為“United Polaris”的服務(wù)，將以前國際航班上的商務(wù)艙和頭等艙合并，從而使每個(gè)座位都能直達(dá)機(jī)艙過道。United Polaris服務(wù)附屬的超豪華特別候機(jī)室還提供正餐美食及淋浴服務(wù)。

但是穆諾茲認(rèn)為，僅憑上述便利服務(wù)還不足以讓美聯(lián)航超越其競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。“每個(gè)人最后都會(huì)趕上甚至超過別人。”他說。

他的最終目的是要改變美聯(lián)航的企業(yè)文化 – 由極端被動(dòng)接受轉(zhuǎn)為積極主動(dòng)進(jìn)取。“我們的員工和競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手都認(rèn)為美聯(lián)航是一家性情保守的公司，”他解釋說。“我們想大膽顛覆這一切。我指的不一定是打價(jià)格戰(zhàn)，而是要在基礎(chǔ)服務(wù)上做到最好 – 以細(xì)膩周到而又充滿激情的方式提供最好的客戶服務(wù)、最高的航班準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)率、以及最好的咖啡。”

穆諾茲在人生初始就領(lǐng)略到了紀(jì)律的重要性。他生于南加州，父親是一名從墨西哥移民到美國的屠宰工。穆諾茲是家中9個(gè)孩子中的老大。“我們?cè)诩依餂]有準(zhǔn)備9個(gè)牌子的麥片，”他回憶說。“我們要排隊(duì)從一個(gè)盛滿麥片粥的大桶里舀粥。”

1982年從南加州大學(xué)畢業(yè)后，穆諾茲在一系列財(cái)務(wù)分析師和財(cái)務(wù)主管工作中一路高升。他首先就職于百事可樂公司，后來跳槽到了可口可樂公司。1990年代中期，在時(shí)任可口可樂公司傳奇CEO郭思達(dá)（Roberto Goizueta）的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，他在可口可樂謀到了一個(gè)受到眾人窺伺的高層要職。后來，他陸續(xù)在Qwest和美國電報(bào)電話等公司任職。

2003年對(duì)于穆諾茲是實(shí)現(xiàn)跨越發(fā)展的關(guān)鍵一年。這一年，他進(jìn)入總部位于杰克遜維爾的CSX鐵路公司任首席財(cái)務(wù)官和首席戰(zhàn)略官。“穆諾茲具有大刀闊斧的鐵腕作風(fēng)，”CSX總法律顧問艾琳·菲茨西蒙（Ellen Fitzsimmons）說。他裁掉了占員工總數(shù)20%的800個(gè)管理崗位，精簡(jiǎn)了人浮于事的管理體系。他還利用新的分析工具發(fā)現(xiàn)了最具盈利能力的細(xì)分市場(chǎng)，提高了CSX在高利潤煤炭和化工產(chǎn)品運(yùn)輸領(lǐng)域的市場(chǎng)份額。在穆諾茲任職的12年期間，CSX的總市值由70億美元?jiǎng)≡鲋?80億美元，年均股票分紅比例高達(dá)15.9%，比標(biāo)準(zhǔn)普爾500企業(yè)的平均分紅比例高出一倍。

2015年年中，CSX董事會(huì)決定由穆諾茲在當(dāng)年年末接替邁克爾·沃德（Michael Ward）擔(dān)任公司CEO，但是，這時(shí)急需拯救者的美聯(lián)航向他拋出了一根他無法拒絕的橄欖枝。作為一位早在2004年就已成為大陸航空董事會(huì)董事的航空業(yè)圈內(nèi)人士，穆諾茲清楚地知道，美聯(lián)航正在深陷其中的一場(chǎng)危機(jī)可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致時(shí)任CEO杰夫·斯米塞克（Jeff Smisek）的去職。

過去幾個(gè)月以來，美國司法部一直在調(diào)查如下事件：紐約新澤西港務(wù)局董事長大衛(wèi)·薩姆森（David Samson）對(duì)美聯(lián)航施壓，要求后者恢復(fù)前往與其度假別墅相距不遠(yuǎn)的南卡羅萊納州哥倫比亞的航班，他提出的價(jià)碼是啟動(dòng)美聯(lián)航長期以來一直期待的紐瓦克自由機(jī)場(chǎng)（改建工程。新澤西州的州檢察官稱，在薩姆森的要求下，美聯(lián)航恢復(fù)了這個(gè)虧損航班。在聯(lián)邦調(diào)查和美聯(lián)航內(nèi)部調(diào)查下，薩姆森于2015年9月被解職。（2016年7月，薩姆森被判受賄罪名成立，美聯(lián)航則被判處225萬美元罰款，并同意對(duì)其法律合規(guī)程序?qū)嵤┐蟾倪M(jìn)。而斯米塞克和美聯(lián)航其他高管中無一人受到指控，斯米塞克也從未對(duì)這一事件發(fā)表任何評(píng)論。）

Adds another new director, Ed Shapiro of PAR Capital, one of two hedge funds that threatened a proxy fight earlier this year before reaching an accord with Munoz: “What impressed us was that he put his life at risk to lead United. He chose to come back when it would have been easy to say, ‘I had a life-threatening issue, so I won’t be coming back’ to this incredibly stressful job.”

Almost as remarkable as Munoz’s swift return is the progress he has already made in turning around what has for several years been a struggling and divided airline. He has ended years of labor strife by reaching new deals with the company’s four major unions, recruited away top talent from the airline’s rivals, and boosted United’s on-time arrivals. And Wall Street has taken notice: As of early November, United’s stock price had soared 44% in four months—besting fellow mega-carriers American (37%) AAL 0.94% and Delta DAL 0.80% (17%). Indeed, a comeback at United promises to substantially shift the balance of power in the $700 billion global airlines industry.

In hours of interviews, Munoz recently provided Fortune with a close-up, exclusive look at his ambitious goals for United, his strategy for reaching them, and his amazing recovery from his near-death experience.

united has been an underperformer ever since the disastrous merger between United and Continental in 2010. Prior to Munoz’s arrival, negotiations on contracts with flight attendants and mechanics had been dragging on for years, causing a bitterly antagonistic relationship between management and labor. United regularly posted the worst on-time performance among America’s four major carriers.

As a result, the U.S. industry settled into a hierarchy that most experts predicted would persist for years. Among the nation’s Big Three global carriers, Delta was the clear -champion—with excellent reliability, strong margins, and a dominant market cap to match. After its successful merger with US Airways, American was a strong second place.

Third-place United’s problems ran deeper than just poor reliability and grumpy onboard service. In recent years the U.S. market has proved extremely profitable, in part because the industry has shrunk to just four big carriers (including the leading budget choice, Southwest). But instead of expanding to benefit from the packed planes and strong fares, United had neglected its U.S. business to focus on profits ferrying passengers to Asia and Europe.

Munoz has made bold moves to reverse these trends—and at least one blockbuster hire. In an August coup that astounded the industry, United grabbed the longtime president of American Airlines, Scott Kirby, to take on the same role at United. Kirby, a master of orchestrating schedules to maximize lucrative connecting traffic, is renowned as the best “network manager” in the business.

Munoz is counting on Kirby’s network magic to close the gap with American and Delta. To be sure, today all three major carriers are profitable thanks to a steep fall in the price of jet fuel and the industry consolidation that has helped lead to packed planes. But United trails its rivals by a wide margin on key financial metrics: For the first nine months of 2016, United posted an operating margin of 14.5%, far below Delta at 19.7% and almost two points under American’s 16.3%.

Here’s why United actually has a shot at a strong comeback: It boasts what’s arguably the best array of hubs of the majors. It is the first- or second-ranking carrier in more of the biggest urban markets than any of its rivals—holding the top spot in Denver, Houston, New York City/Newark, and San Francisco and ranking second in Washington, D.C. “The key is the opportunity to exploit all that potential we haven’t been exploiting,” says Milton, the United chairman sitting in his 11th-floor office in Chicago’s Willis Tower (the formerSears Tower), the trim, athletic Munoz shows no outward signs that he’s powered by a recently implanted heart. The only apparent legacy of his health issues is a slight looseness in the grip of his right hand. (He’s back cycling but with a special brake lever installed on the left handlebar that works both front and back wheels.) But he’s shaking hands where he used only fist bumps a couple of months ago and says his grip is returning. To increase his stamina, he has shifted from being a pure vegan to what he calls a “flexitarian,” by adding fish and poultry to his diet.

United is making some splashy moves to attract business travelers. In December it will introduce a new service called Polaris that combines the former business- and first-class cabins on international flights so that every seat has direct aisle access. Polaris will also offer special, extra-luxurious lounges serving sit-down gourmet meals and equipped with showers.

But Munoz doesn’t think that such amenities are what’s going to lift United above its rivals. “Everyone eventually matches or leapfrogs everyone else,” he says.

Instead, he’s set on transforming the United culture—from extremely passive to highly aggressive. “Our employees and competitors thought we were docile,” he explains. “We want to be defiantly disruptive. I don’t mean necessarily by launching price wars but by being the best at the basics—having the best customer service, the best on-time performance, the best coffee—in a thoughtful, not a testosterone-laced, way.”

Munoz learned about operational discipline early in life. He grew up in Southern California, the son of a union meat cutter born in Mexico and the oldest of nine children. “We didn’t have nine brands of cereal at home,” he recalls. “We’d line up to fill our bowls from a giant vat of oatmeal.”

After graduating from USC in 1982, Munoz rose through an ascending series of financial analyst and controller jobs, first at PepsiCo PEP -0.31% , then at Coca-Cola Enterprises. In the mid-1990s he secured a coveted chief-of-staff-like role under legendary Coca-Cola KO -0.51% CEO Roberto Goizueta. He moved on to stints at Qwest and AT&T.

In 2003, Munoz made a big jump when he joined railroad operatorCSX CSX 0.12% of Jacksonville as CFO and chief of strategy. “Oscar brought a certain steeliness,” says its general counsel, Ellen Fitzsimmons. He helped streamline the bloated managerial ranks by eliminating 800—or 20%—of the management positions. He also developed new analytics that identified the most profitable product segments, steering CSX to increase its shares in high-margin coal and chemicals. Over his 12 years at CSX, its market cap soared from $7 billion to $28 billion with a 15.9% average annual stock return that was double the performance of the S&P 500.

In mid-2015 the CSX board chose Munoz to succeed CEO Michael Ward at the end of the year. But then a challenge appeared that Munoz couldn’t turn down.united needed a savior. And as a director of the airline—he had joined the Continental board in 2004—Munoz knew well that the company had been embroiled in a crisis that might end the tenure of CEO Jeff Smisek.

For months the Justice Department had been investigating charges that David Samson, chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, had pressured United to reinstate a flight to Columbia, S.C., near his vacation home in exchange for improvements that United sought at Newark’s Liberty Airport. United reinstated the money-losing flight because of Samson’s demands, according to New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney. The federal investigation and United’s internal probe led to Smisek’s ouster in September 2015. (In July 2016, Samson pled guilty to bribery. United paid a $2.25 million penalty and agreed to substantially improve its compliance procedures. Neither Smisek nor other United officials were charged. Smisek has never commented.)

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The United board didn’t see a good internal candidate to replace Smisek, who had consolidated power by holding the positions of president, CEO, and chairman. One potential contender, CFO John Rainey, had already left to take the top financial job at PayPal PYPL 0.50% . The directors had hired an executive search firm to look at outside candidates if Smisek was forced to leave. But they wanted to avoid a long-term search that could leave United even more rudderless. Their fellow director Munoz, with his knowledge of the airline and track record at CSX, seemed the logical candidate.

Munoz recognized the opportunity. He felt that if he could fix morale at United, performance would follow. “There was a high level of distrust and disengagement with employees,” says Munoz today.

his heart attack wasn’t the only major hurdle Munoz had to overcome to start the turnaround at United. Just two months after receiving his heart transplant and days before he returned to work full-time on March 14, Munoz faced a potentially crippling proxy battle with investors.

Two Boston hedge funds that specialize in airlines—PAR and Altimeter—had decided they could no longer tolerate United’s terrible record and demanded major changes to the board. They supported the selection of Munoz as CEO but, given his lack of an operating background in airlines, argued that he needed guidance from directors with long experience in the industry. None of United’s 12 directors had ever worked for an airline. In a March 8 letter to the board, the two hedge funds castigated United’s board as “underqualified, ineffective, complacent, and entrenched.”

The hedge funds demanded a slate of six new directors headed by former Continental CEO Gordon Bethune, whom they wanted as chairman. For Munoz, naming Bethune chairman was a deal-breaker; he argued it would inflame the old divisions between United and Continental. But he also sought to avoid a debilitating fight with major investors. “I didn’t want weeks and months of cultural damage and brain damage that would continue to undermine the company.”

Munoz recognized the need to fortify the board with more airline experience. So on March 7 he had launched a preemptive strike by naming three new directors, including two airline -veterans—Air Canada veteran Milton and James Whitehurst, former COO of Delta.

穆諾茲建議任命米爾頓為董事長，并將他自己的晉升時(shí)間向后推遲一年直至2018年年中。他選擇經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的航空公司前高管擔(dān)任董事是最終促成談判成功的關(guān)鍵原因。兩家對(duì)沖基金最終放棄了任命白求恩為董事長的計(jì)劃。4月，雙方達(dá)成協(xié)議，同意任命三位新董事，其中兩人是由這兩家對(duì)沖基金所遴選。

如果體現(xiàn)一位航空公司高管是否成功的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)之一是能否和普通員工保持良好關(guān)系的話，那么穆諾茲無疑是極為成功的。他能夠非常自然地讓包括售票員和行李搬運(yùn)工在內(nèi)的基層員工們對(duì)他產(chǎn)生好感，并且和他們談笑風(fēng)生。

他最近一次出差去休斯頓，晚上9點(diǎn)左右才到。到達(dá)機(jī)場(chǎng)后他直接去了維修機(jī)庫看望那里的機(jī)械師們。第二天早晨，他走遍整座機(jī)場(chǎng)，不停地和售票員和客戶服務(wù)員們聚在一起自拍，說些鼓舞士氣的話，然后走到停機(jī)坪上看望那些正在把行李從飛機(jī)行李艙轉(zhuǎn)移到行李傳送帶上的工人們。“我在機(jī)庫里和舷梯上感覺很舒服自在，”穆諾茲說。另外，他還和一位卡車司機(jī)工會(huì)成員交談了30分鐘。這位工會(huì)成員在心臟移植手術(shù)后已經(jīng)離開工作兩年，在兩天前才剛剛重返工作崗位。

早在他自己的心臟病發(fā)作之前，穆諾茲就已經(jīng)做出了調(diào)整重要政策的計(jì)劃。過去，在斯米塞克管理下，美聯(lián)航曾經(jīng)將杰克遜維爾和博伊西（Boise）等小城市機(jī)場(chǎng)的客戶服務(wù)和舷梯操作工作外包給非工會(huì)工人。而在CSX任職時(shí)經(jīng)常往返杰克遜維爾的穆諾茲曾經(jīng)親眼目睹過在這項(xiàng)外包政策下，技能低劣的新工人給旅客們?cè)斐傻姆N種麻煩和不便。2015年秋季履新CEO職位后不久，他就果斷叫停了外包，從而贏得了各家工會(huì)的廣泛信任。

穆諾茲還在達(dá)成新空乘合同的過程中發(fā)揮了決定性作用。在斯米塞克時(shí)代，這項(xiàng)新合同的談判曾經(jīng)陷入僵局。“當(dāng)時(shí)所有人都在整天無謂地打嘴仗、繞圈子，”前美聯(lián)航空乘，目前擔(dān)任全國空乘工會(huì)AFA會(huì)長的薩拉·尼爾森（Sara Nelson）說。“甚至連員工的陪審義務(wù)補(bǔ)助這種小事都談不妥，更別說薪酬待遇這種重大問題了。談判持續(xù)了3年，真正解決掉的問題數(shù)量可能只有10%。”

達(dá)成協(xié)議是真正實(shí)現(xiàn)美聯(lián)航和大陸航空最終整合的關(guān)鍵一步：荒唐的是，現(xiàn)有規(guī)則禁止前大陸航空空乘人員登上美聯(lián)航在合并完成前擁有的飛機(jī)上工作，反之亦然。讓我們?cè)O(shè)想一下這個(gè)古怪情景：一架飛機(jī)晚點(diǎn)到達(dá)休斯頓，機(jī)上的“大陸航空”空乘人員已經(jīng)完成了他們的工作班次。而這時(shí)盡管有一個(gè)“美聯(lián)航”空乘組無事可做，但卻不能登上這架航班飛往下一個(gè)目的地。

過去，美聯(lián)航認(rèn)為它沒有義務(wù)提供等同于達(dá)美航空和美國航空的“市場(chǎng)”薪酬和福利標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。穆諾茲則從一個(gè)不同的角度看問題。“和鐵路一樣，航空產(chǎn)業(yè)是一個(gè)遵循‘模式談判’的產(chǎn)業(yè)，”他說。“你要支付相當(dāng)于市場(chǎng)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的薪酬，才能最終落實(shí)合同。沒有合同，你和員工之間的關(guān)系就會(huì)非常脆弱。”于是，穆諾茲直接插手制訂了更優(yōu)厚的薪酬方案，從而打破了談判僵局。

Munoz proposed appointing Milton as chairman and deferring his own ascension for a year, until mid-2018. The choice of a seasoned airline veteran was crucial to forging a deal. The hedge funds dropped their demands for Bethune to head the board. In April the two sides reached an accord by agreeing to three additional directors, including two picked by the hedge funds.

if part of being a successful airline executive is connecting with the rank and file, Munoz checks that box easily. He’s a natural at charming and connecting with everyone from ticket agents to baggage handlers.

On a recent trip to Houston, Munoz arrived at around 9 p.m. and went directly to a maintenance hangar to meet with a crew of mechanics. The next morning he strolled through the airport taking selfies and giving pep talks to ticket agents and customer service folks, then descended to the tarmac to hang out with the workers who move bags from planes to carousels. “I feel most comfortable in the hangars and ramps,” says Munoz. He also met for 30 minutes with a Teamster who had returned to work two days earlier following a heart transplant, after two years off the job.

Even before his own heart attack, Munoz set a new tone with a crucial shift in policy. Under Smisek, United was outsourcing jobs to non-union customer service reps and ramp workers in small cities such as Jacksonville and Boise. Munoz, who regularly flew out of Jacksonville while at CSX, saw firsthand how the policy annoyed travelers, since inexperienced new hires frequently provided below-par service. Shortly after becoming CEO, in the fall of 2015, he halted the outsourcing, which went a long way toward winning the confidence of the unions.

Munoz also played a decisive role in clinching the new attendants’ contract. Under Smisek, the talks had been grounded. “It was a lot of stalling and talking around in circles,” recalls Sara Nelson, a United flight attendant who now heads the AFA, the national flight attendants’ union. “We couldn’t get past things like compensation for jury duty, let alone the big pay issues. Probably 90% of the issues weren’t settled after three years of talks.”

Reaching an agreement was essential to finally integrating United and Continental: Bizarrely, the rules barred the legacy Continental flight attendants from working on planes owned by United before the merger, and vice versa. Let’s say a plane arrived late in Houston and the “Continental” flight attendants onboard had finished their shift and a “United” reserve crew was free. The “United” attendants weren’t allowed to service the flight to its next connection.

Under the previous regime, United felt that it couldn’t afford to match the “market” wages and benefits paid by Delta and American. Munoz took a different view. “This is a pattern-bargaining industry, like railroads,” he says. “You need to pay market to get a contract at all, and without contracts, you have a poor relationship with workers.” So Munoz directly intervened to break the final deadlock, authorizing a more generous deal.

薪酬提高后，美聯(lián)航的準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)率表現(xiàn)有了大幅度提升。根據(jù)FlightStats網(wǎng)站提供的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)，今年前三個(gè)季度，82%的美聯(lián)航航班在自計(jì)劃到達(dá)時(shí)間起的15分鐘內(nèi)打開艙門 – 這同時(shí)也是行業(yè)內(nèi)對(duì)“準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)”的定義。這個(gè)數(shù)字比去年同期的77%提高了5個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。美聯(lián)航的準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)率已經(jīng)以2個(gè)百分點(diǎn)的優(yōu)勢(shì)超過了美國航空，與達(dá)美航空的差距也從6個(gè)百分點(diǎn)縮窄為不到3個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。

現(xiàn)在，勞資關(guān)系已經(jīng)歸于平靜，穆諾茲開始專注于提升機(jī)場(chǎng)網(wǎng)絡(luò)管理水平。他希望完全發(fā)揮美聯(lián)航旗下大量機(jī)場(chǎng)設(shè)施的潛力。把科爾比招于麾下則是實(shí)現(xiàn)這一跨越的關(guān)鍵舉措。

關(guān)于這位前美國航空總裁是如何空降美聯(lián)航的過程，圈內(nèi)人都諱莫如深。但是《財(cái)富》了解到，早在美國航空董事長科爾比離職前兩周，穆諾茲和美聯(lián)航董事會(huì)就已經(jīng)獲知了他即將離開美國航空的消息。令人們大感意外的是，美國航空董事會(huì)決定晉升COO羅伯特·伊索姆（Robert Isom）擔(dān)任總裁，并聲稱伊索姆繼任的是CEO道格·帕克（Doug Park），而非科爾比的職位，同時(shí)要求科爾比離職。讓美聯(lián)航感到高興的是，科爾比不受競(jìng)業(yè)限制協(xié)議限制，可以自由地加入其他航空公司繼續(xù)工作。“聽到消息的那一刻，我不禁興奮地跳了起來，”穆諾茲說。

美國航空于8月20日下午4時(shí)15分公布了科爾比的離職消息，而美聯(lián)航則在4時(shí)18分宣布，科爾比將擔(dān)任美聯(lián)航總裁。脾氣暴躁的白求恩對(duì)這一職務(wù)變動(dòng)表示贊賞。“很多人會(huì)出于自我保護(hù)的目的，不愿意聘用能力強(qiáng)的人，”他告訴《財(cái)富》說。“但是穆諾茲敢于聘用最適合這個(gè)職位的人 – 科爾比。這讓我對(duì)他的好感增加了10倍。”

穆諾茲如此快速出擊是出于一個(gè)明顯的原因：通過各大樞紐機(jī)場(chǎng)把合適的飛機(jī)派往合適的地方正是科爾比的專長 – 同時(shí)也是任何航空公司實(shí)現(xiàn)盈利的基石。美聯(lián)航目前的網(wǎng)絡(luò)管理效率在三大航空公司之間最為薄弱，而科爾比深知解決問題的方法，并且在不久以前曾經(jīng)幫助美國航空從美聯(lián)航手里拉來了不少客戶。

在丹佛郊區(qū)向飛行員們發(fā)表演講后，穆諾茲與親友共同慶祝他死里逃生一周年。他的妻子由于要照料他們四個(gè)子女中最小的男孩上中學(xué)，目前還住在杰克遜維爾。穆諾茲夫婦和他們小兒子的兩位朋友，以及他們的父母一道飛往芝加哥觀賞周末的體育比賽。周五，他們?cè)谥ゼ痈缃紖^(qū)觀看了公牛隊(duì)的籃球比賽（公牛隊(duì)獲勝），周日則在軍人運(yùn)動(dòng)場(chǎng)（Soldier Field）觀看了芝加哥熊隊(duì)迎戰(zhàn)來自杰克遜維爾美洲虎隊(duì)的橄欖球比賽（美洲虎隊(duì)獲勝）穆諾茲剛剛搬離杰克遜維爾不久。

周六晚，他們?cè)谝患也蛷d觀賞了全國棒球聯(lián)盟冠軍系列賽首場(chǎng)比賽——小熊隊(duì)對(duì)陣洛杉磯道奇隊(duì)。“看到芝加哥接球手米蓋爾·蒙泰羅（Miguel Montero）打出了一記漂亮的滿貫本壘打，”出生于洛杉磯的穆諾茲說，“我不禁放棄了一貫支持的道奇隊(duì)，轉(zhuǎn)而成為小熊隊(duì)的球迷。”

這記本壘打發(fā)生10月15日。就在整整1年前的這天，穆諾茲正在掙扎著去打開他的公寓大門等待急救。對(duì)于一家急需重整旗鼓的老牌航空公司，很難想象還有誰比他更適合擔(dān)任這家公司的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

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作者：Shawn Tully

譯者：鄭立飛

The payoff has been a remarkable improvement in on-time performance. According to statistics complied by FlightStats, for the first three quarters of this year, 82% of United flights opened their doors at the gate within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival—the definition of “on-time.” That’s an improvement of five percentage points from the 77% number in the same period last year. United actually beat American by more than two points and narrowed the gap with Delta from six to under three points.

now that he has achieved labor peace, Munoz is focused on improving network management. He wants to fully exploit the potential of United’s powerful collection of hubs. And luring Kirby was essential in making the leap.

The story of how American’s president landed at United is a closely guarded secret, but Fortune has learned that Munoz and the board heard Kirby would be leaving American about two weeks before his departure. In a surprise move, American’s board had decided to promote its COO, Robert Isom, to president—tabbing Isom as the heir apparent to CEO Doug Parker rather than Kirby, and forcing Kirby’s departure. United got a big break because Kirby wasn’t restricted by a noncompetition agreement that would have prevented him from joining another airline for an extended period. “I jumped on it right away,” says Munoz.

American disclosed -Kirby’s departure at 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 29, and United announced his appointment as president at 4:18 p.m. The move wins praise from the crusty Bethune. “A lot of guys won’t hire strong people because they’re afraid of being overshadowed,” he tellsFortune. “But Oscar had the balls to hire Kirby—the right guy for the job. He rose 1,000% in my estimation.”

Munoz pounced for an obvious reason: Getting the rightsized planes to the right places, all funneled through hubs, is Kirby’s specialty—and the keystone of any airline’s profitability. Of the three mega-carriers, United’s network management is by far the weakest. And Kirby, who had been targeting United to win customers to American just a few months ago, knows its problems inside-out.

the weekend after this speech to the pilots near Denver, Munoz marked the anniversary of surviving his heart attack by celebrating with friends and family. His wife has remained in Jacksonville to allow the youngest of their four children, a teenage boy, to finish high school. The pair flew up to Chicago, accompanied by two of the son’s friends and their parents, for a sports super-weekend—featuring excursions to watch the Bulls on Friday (they won) and to Soldier Field to see the Bears lose to Munoz’s last hometown team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, on Sunday.

On Saturday night the group joined revelers in a restaurant to watch the Cubs defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in game one of the National League championship series. “When [Chicago catcher] Miguel Montero hit that grand slam,” says L.A. native Munoz, “I transferred my lifelong loyalty from the Dodgers to the Cubs.”

The home run came on Oct. 15—one year to the day after Munoz had managed to stumble to his apartment door, and salvation. For an airline in need of a comeback, it’s hard to imagine a better-qualified leader.