United Taps John Tague as COO

There was a nice round of shuffling over in Chicago last week when United’s CEO Glenn Tilton decided to make a few swaps. This apparently makes it look like the airline is trying to do something different, but really it’s just the same people in different roles. Here’s what happened:

Glenn Tilton is still the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
John Tague goes from Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) to Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Pete McDonald goes from Chief Operating Officer (COO) to Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).
Graham Atkinson stays as Chief Customer Officer (CCO) and will now report to Pete McDonald (CAO).
Jake Brace incredibly soldiers on as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Talk about a top-heavy airline. Let’s say I’m a Vice President under Graham Atkinson. I now report to the CCO who reports to the COO who reports to the CEO. That is absolutely ridiculous, and that’s assuming I don’t have an Executive or Senior VP in between me at the CCO (which there probably is).

Maybe this move is a desperate attempt at getting someone else to rein in the cost problem over at United. The reality is that just shuffling people around at this airline isn’t going to do anything. It’s still the same people sitting in that new fancy pants building on Wacker Drive making decisions.