Barbara Higgins Tapped to Lead United’s Efforts to Build World-Class Service Organization
CHICAGO, Jan. 3, 2007 -- UAL Corporation (NASDAQ: UAUA), the holding company whose primary subsidiary is United Airlines, today announced that Barbara Higgins has been named vice president-Customer Experience, leading the company’s initiative to differentiate United from its U.S. competitors by delivering a customer experience that rivals its top global peers.
“Disney is a leader in treating its customers as welcomed guests, and Barbara has spent her career building and leading global organizations to deliver on that promise,” said Graham Atkinson, United executive vice president and Chief Customer Officer. “We are committed to ensuring we meet our customers’ expectations every time they travel with us, and are pleased to have Barbara on board to lead the work under way.”
Appointed chief customer officer in September, Atkinson has been leading efforts to improve United’s products, processes and service. Higgins joins United, following an 18-year career with Disney where she most recently served as vice president-Operations Planning and Integration for Disneyland Resort Paris. She will report directly to Atkinson.
“United is a strong brand with a great collection of assets, positioning it well within the industry,” Higgins said. “By combining these strengths with its strongest asset, its people, the company has a tremendous opportunity to deliver an experience of value to all of its customers, and to reward its best customers.”
Higgins succeeds Sean Donohue, who held the position briefly before being named senior vice president-Flight Operations and Onboard Service. She will begin on Jan. 22.
Prior to her current position, Higgins held a number of leadership roles in operations and corporate strategy, including director-Operations Task Force for Hong Kong Disneyland and director-Operations Integration for Walt Disney World.
Higgins has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and a master’s of business administration from the University of Florida.
About United
United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAUA) operates more than 3,700* flights a day on United, United Express and Ted to more than 210 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States. United is also a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides connections for our customers to 842 destinations in 152 countries worldwide. United's 57,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. News releases and other information about United can be found at the company's Web site at united.com.
*Based on the flight schedule between May 1, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2006.
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