United Continental appoints first female Chairman

United Continental Holdings has announced that it has appointed Jane Garvey as its first ever female Chairman of the Board.

“Jane steps into this critical role bringing with her decades of experience as both a leader and pioneer in our industry,” Oscar Munoz, Chief Executive Officer of United.

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Currently standing as Chairman of Meridian Infrastructure Finance Sarl, she has also been placed on the United Board since 2009. Previous to this, Garvey served in President Barak Obama’s transitional team, whilst also having led US Public/ Private Partnerships at JPMorgan.

Garvey was also the first woman to head up the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), heading the agency up during the country’s devastating 11 September 2001 attacks.

Garvey will replace Robert Milton in the role who stepped down last month alongside Director Laurence Simmons.

United’s Chief Financial Officer Andrew Levy also left the company earlier this week after just under two years in the role, with Gerry Laderman having been appointed in the position on an interim basis.