Gordon Bethune leads proxy battle at United

The parent company of United faces renewed uncertainty after the former CE of Continental Airlines on Tuesday led a proxy battle to join the board and reverse the company’s “substantial and inexcusable . . . underperformance”.<br/>The action fronted by Gordon Bethune comes two days after Oscar Munoz, the company’s CE, announced he would return to work next Monday after nearly five months’ absence following a heart attack. Bethune represents two shareholders that together control 7.1% of the stock in United Continental Holdings, the airline’s parent company, which was formed from a merger of United and Continental in 2010. Altimeter Capital and PAR Capital are seeking to place Bethune and five others on United’s board. Brad Gerstner, CE of Altimeter, said the two shareholders had been “greatly disappointed” with United’s “poor performance and bad decisions” over the past several years. Gerstner is one of the board candidates, as is Rodney O’Neal, the former CE of Delphi Automotive. On Monday, United sought to head off the shareholders’ action by adding three new members to its board, taking the total to 15. Gerstner said that “last-ditch effort” had been a “cynical attempt to preserve power”. “Stockholders and employees deserve a proactive, well-crafted, and diverse board that has the experience required to end years of chronic underperformance,” he added. Altimeter and PAR also published a letter to Henry Meyer, United’s chairman, which said “meaningful change” was urgently required to reverse “longstanding poor board governance and the resulting many years of substantial and inexcusable company underperformance relative to United’s competitors”. Meyer responded that United had attempted to engage in a “constructive, good-faith dialogue” with Altimeter and PAR. He said the announcement of the three new board members, and a fourth that the company intends to name in the future, had shown United’s willingness to make changes to its board.<br/>