United Continental's new board will help the airline fix ongoing issues, CEO Oscar Munoz said Thursday, a day after adding two new directors as part of an agreement with activist investors.
"I think they can do a lot, frankly. We've really reconstituted the board with some great experience across technology, innovation, certainly the airline experience, that's important," Munoz told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."
The airline added two new board members Wednesday as part of the agreement with hedge funds PAR Capital Management and Altimeter Capital Management.
"The reconstituted board will do great. I'm going to miss some of the members of our board that are leaving. Certainly, we had a great run, but at the end of the day, … I think it's going to work out," said Munoz, who returned to his position last month following a heart transplant.
Munoz said he and the company can focus on fixing its issues now that the proxy battle has concluded.
Shares of United fell more than 7.9 percent Thursday, a day after the company reported quarterly results. United posted a first-quarter profit above analysts' expectations and said it would slow its growth plans because flight capacity across the industry has exceeded passenger demand, pushing down prices.
Analysts had expected United Continental to report earnings of about $1.18 a share on $8.2 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The No.3 U.S. airline by traffic posted adjusted first-quarter earnings per share of $1.23, compared with $1.52 a share in the year-earlier period. And revenue for the quarter came in at $8.2 billion, against the year-ago figure of $8.61 billion.
A collapse in oil prices continues to hurt demand for travel from energy center Houston, one of United's principal hubs. At the same time, a surge in flights from low-cost airlines such as Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines continues to keep U.S. domestic prices low, although Delta Air Lines said last week it sees average fares starting to rise.
Over the past year, UAL's stock has fallen 16 percent, but has surged nearly 18 percent in the last three months.
— CNBC's Everett Rosenfeld and Reuters contributed to this report.