American Airlines president jumps to a top spot at rival United

United Airlines hired its chief competitor American Airlines’ No. 2 executive Monday.

Scott Kirby, 49, will fill a newly created role as president of United Continental Holdings Inc., responsible for operations, marketing, sales, alliances, network planning and revenue management, the Chicago-based airline said. He had been president of American Airlines Group Inc. since its merger with US Airways in 2013.

In a letter to employees, United Chief Executive Oscar Munoz said adding the new position would enable him to “sharpen my own focus as CEO on the core mission of driving United’s overall strategy, business innovation and financial performance.”

Munoz, brought in as CEO last year to turn the airline around, has reached several new labor agreements with employee groups and improved the airline’s on-time performance, but he said earlier this year that United’s financial performance still lagged behind that of other major U.S. airlines.

A key measure of passenger revenue was down 6.6% in the second quarter of 2016 compared with the same period last year. Earlier this summer, Munoz announced a combination of cost cuts and new revenue totaling $3.1 billion between 2015 and 2018.

Kirby’s appointment follows two management changes at United this month, when Munoz made former Allegiant Travel President Andrew Levy the airline’s new chief financial officer and former Boston Consulting Group partner Julia Haywood the airline’s chief commercial officer.

Texas-based American Airlines said it has promoted its chief operating officer, Robert Isom, 52, to fill Kirby’s spot.

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