United pays ousted CEO $4.88 million to leave; will O'Hare be affected?

United Airlines absorbed a one-two punch Tuesday as CEO Jeffery Smisek resigned with a hefty payout amid a federal investigation, and the carrier's website malfunctioned.

The corporate shake-up also involves two other top executives and comes at a time when United was recovering from flak over flights being grounded July 8 related to a computer meltdown.

It's anyone's guess what the change of guard will mean for a new runway at O'Hare International Airport.

"Any time leaders change, it adds a wrinkle to O'Hare plans," DePaul University aviation expert Joseph Schwieterman said. "This is a shocker since United was rounding the corner after a difficult merger."

United gave Smisek a $4.88 million separation payment, according to Securities Exchange Commission filings, ending a turbulent tenure that included a merger with Continental Airlines.

"These departures are in connection with United's previously disclosed internal investigation related to the federal investigation associated with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey," stated new CEO Oscar Munoz in a letter to employees.

Federal authorities were scrutinizing whether United had added flights to curry favor with port authority executives.

"United appeared to have its house in order and now faces some serious drama," said Schwieterman, a DePaul professor.

Munoz is former president and chief operating officer of railroad CSX Corp., which is headquartered in Florida and served on the board of directors of United and previously Continental. He was educated in California.

"Smisek had a deep commitment to O'Hare despite his Continental roots and the next leader could be different," Schwieterman said. Both United and American Airlines' financial buy-in are crucial to Chicago's plans to add one runway and expand another on O'Hare's south airfield.

Veteran United pilot Walt Philips was underwhelmed by the news, noting that corporate cutbacks to service and amenities have taken a toll at the airline.

Smisek "was the eighth CEO in my 37 years at United," the Palatine pilot said. "I'm happy to see the latest example of corporate mediocrity given the boot. My overall view is, this is positive."

Munoz promised to be "relentless" in improving conditions at the airline and asked employees in a letter, "How can we operate better? How can we better serve our customers?"

In addition to Smisek, United Executive Vice President of Communications Nene Foxhall and Senior Vice President of Corporate and Government Affairs Mark Anderson are exiting.

U.S. prosecutors have been investigating the relationship between United and former Port Authority chief David Samson, who quit in 2014, wire services reported.

The carrier was previously headquartered in Elk Grove Village until moving to downtown Chicago in 2013.

Meanwhile, the website glitch Tuesday did not affect landings or departures, but passengers needed to use mobile apps or check in at kiosks.

United also experienced a previous technical debacle and halted takeoffs June 2 as a result of problems with the flight-dispatching system.

The carrier was buffeted by a series of commuter outages in 2012 after switching to a passenger-information system used by merger partner Continental Airlines.

In each case, hundreds of flights were delayed. A number of high-paying business travelers defected to other airlines and revenue dropped.

• Daily Herald news services contributed to this report.