United Continental Holdings has announced Greg Hart will be named executive vice president and chief operations officer, succeeding Pete McDonald, who is retiring after nearly 45 years with United.

In his new position, Hart will be responsible for airport operations, cargo, technical operations, network operations, flight operations, inflight service, safety and food services at the airline.

“We will miss Pete, and congratulate him on his retirement,” said United chairman, president and chief executive Jeff Smisek.

“His leadership and tremendous knowledge of our business have been great assets to United.

“Our team and our board of directors are confident that Greg will successfully lead our operations groups as we focus on improving our operational quality and efficiency while running an on-time airline with great customer service.”

Hart previously served as United’s senior vice president of technical operations.

He earlier held the role of senior vice president network.

Hart joined the airline in 1997 and held various leadership positions including vice president of network strategy, staff vice president of domestic scheduling and managing director of corporate development.

United Airlines and United Express operate an average of more than 5,300 flights a day to more than 360 airports across six continents.

In 2012, United and United Express carried more passenger traffic than any other airline in the world and operated nearly two million flights carrying 140 million customers.