Bookworm: ‘Turnaround Time’ – The perfect airport read
“Turnaround Time: Uniting an Airline and its Employees in the Friendly Skies”
- By Oscar Munoz with Brian DE Splinter
- c. 2023, Harper Business
- $32, 220 pages
Seat backs up, tray tables in locked position. You know the drill: wrestle your roll-on, carry-on, a jacket, phone and a book, fast-walk like an Olympian down a hallway, and pass through a hobbit-sized door. Heave one bag up and one down before plopping yourself into a minuscule seat, ready to go. In “Turnaround Time” by Oscar Munoz (with Brian DE Splinter), you’ll see behind the departure gate for that flight you’re taking.
If you didn’t know the whole story, you’d think that thirty-seven was Oscar Munoz’s cosmic number. Thirty-seven days after becoming CEO of United Airlines, he’d finished up a run near his Chicago home when he began to feel ill. He called 911 when he realized he was having a heart attack. Thirty-seven minute later, he was connected to life support.
In America, he says, someone dies of cardiac arrest every thirty-seven seconds.
Prior to his health scare, Munoz had been on a whirlwind trip back and forth across the country on a fact-finding journey for his new position. At that time, United Airlines had a lot to fix; it was nobody’s preferred airline and complaints were sky-high. Fortunately, before he fell ill, Munoz had hired many talented people who took over while he was recuperating, and until he was ready to work again.
The way to turn a company around, he says, is to “Listen, learn, and only then lead” your employees. Listen – not just to their phone calls and emails but visit them in their own spaces. Strive to pull everyone together as a team and always follow through, which shows that you’re paying attention. Ask for employee feedback in all corners of your business.
If there are problems, let customers vent, and heed their concerns. Know your own “knowledge of contribution.” And remember that “Trust is a commodity that resists an easy valuation. But when you need it, it’s priceless.”
There are two rather distinct ways to see “Turnaround Time.” It’s either a personal biography with a business flair, or it’s the biography of a business with a personal touch. Either way, it’s an enjoyable read.
From the dusty roads of rural Mexico to the pinnacle of an international airline, authors Munoz and DeSplinter offer readers a true bootstraps kind of tale that pays homage to Munoz’ family and the opportunities they gave him. Munoz’ stories of his grandmother are particularly sweet, and readers will wish there were more; passages about his recovery are likewise harrowing and feel like a medical thriller. These tales, and those of the airline and its revival, flow back and forth so smoothly you might forget, at its basis, that this is a business book. If you doubt that, look for the advice that’s embedded and randomly scattered.
Readers wanting juicy tell-all flight stories will be disappointed, just so you know. This isn’t that kind of book; instead, it’s a warm tale of a man, his life, and his job. If that sounds like the perfect airport read, then find “Turnaround Time” and lock it up.
MOREBookworm: A good choice – ‘Life and Other Love Songs’
ANDBookworm: Love a funny feminist warrior” You’ll devour ‘Harley Quinn’
ALSOBookworm: ‘Gentleman Bandit’ for Civil War buffs, Old West fans
The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. She has been reading since she was 3 years old and never goes anywhere without a book. Terri lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books. Read past columns at marconews.com.
NEW MUST-READ BOOKS
In search of something good to read? USA Today’s Barbara VanDenburgh scopes out the shelves for the hottest new book releases.
“Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain”
- By Andrew McCarthy
- Grand Central
What it’s about: Author and actor McCarthy (“Pretty in Pink,” “Less Than Zero”) writes a poignant travel memoir about walking famed 500-mile Camino de Santiago with his son Sam to better get to know each other as adults.
The buzz: Kirkus Reviews calls it “a candid record of a difficult journey.”
‘Wildflower’
- By Aurora James
- Crown, nonfiction
What it’s about: The Canadian fashion designer and founder of the Fifteen Percent Pledge – a nonprofit encouraging retailers to pledge at least 15% of shelf space to Black-owned businesses – shares her personal story of triumph over childhood abuse and her path to social justice activism in this rallying cry for change.
The buzz: A starred Kirkus review calls it “a well-written, profoundly empathetic memoir from an entrepreneur with a very bright future.”
‘Our Migrant Souls’
- By Héctor Tobar
- MCD
What it’s about: Subtitled “A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of ‘Latino,’ the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author’s latest work examines the modern Latino experience and identity, drawing on his experience as the son of Guatemalan immigrants.
The buzz: A starred Kirkus review calls it “a powerful look at what it means to be a member of a community that, though large, remains marginalized.”