United CEO Oscar Munoz Also Owes Investors An Apology

United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE: UAL)'s disastrous incident of a passenger dragged off a plane has prompted the company's CEO Oscar Munoz to issue an apology to the violently bumped passenger. But according to Steve Odland, a former retail executive, investors also deserve an apology.

Speaking as a guest on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" segment, Odland, a former CEO of Office Depot Inc (NASDAQ: ODP), said that the core issue is United's employees need to treat customers with their best judgment — not "by the books."

So Many Voices

Adding to the difficulty is the fact that United was formed through a merger with Continental and Republic Airlines (United Express lines), which means the company has "three different versions of people involved."

"In a social media environment where everybody has a camera we are on stage every day," Odland emphasized. "And every customer facing person needs to be trained in that regard."

Odland believes Munoz is a good person, but he still needs to apologize to investors and the earliest he can do so is during Monday's post-earnings conference call.

Bottom line, Odland believes Munoz will indeed "take accountability." The fact remains, however, that getting through the horrible event and erasing the negative perception among consumers isn't a one month or even one-year effort.

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