New York (CNN Business) United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz will step down from running the airline in May, the company announced Thursday.

American Airlines AAL Munoz will become chairman of the airline, and he will be succeeded as CEO by Scott Kirby . Kirby has been president of United since the airline wooed him away from rivalthree years ago.

Munoz is best known for being the face of the airline during the public relations debacle, when a passenger was dragged off an overbooked flight in April of 2017. In the face of outrage he testified before Congress that "we had a horrible failure ." The incident sparked changes in the way United and other airlines deal with the overbooking of flights.

"When I joined United as CEO, I laid out ambitious goals to build a new spirit of United by regaining the trust of our employees and customers — and I'm proud of how far we've come," Munoz said. "With United in a stronger position than ever, now is the right time to begin the process of passing the baton to a new leader."

United UAL Shares ofwere slightly higher in premarket trading on the news. The stock has risen 54% during Munoz's more-than four years on the job. It's been a generally good time for airline stocks in an age of consolidation of the US industry, and a strong economy lifting travel demand and fares.