United Airlines today named Sarah Murphy senior vice president of United Express, where she will oversee the carrier's extensive regional network, product, customer service, operations and strategy. Murphy most recently served as United's vice president of global operations strategy, planning and design, where her responsibilities included leading all customer-facing operations strategy and planning to help the airline's employees deliver better reliability and service. Murphy will report to Chief Operations Officer Greg Hart.

"With Sarah, the United Express team is gaining a versatile leader who will guide our strong regional operations to new levels of success. Her diverse background at United, leading teams in finance and our operation, is a perfect fit for this role as we strive to improve the overall experience for our customers and make their journey seamless, whether on United or United Express," said Hart.

Murphy was instrumental in launching United's core4 service model founded on four standards – safe, caring, dependable and efficient. The airline began core4 training with its customer-facing employees and eventually rolled out the training to all 93,000 United employees.

Previously, Murphy served as United's vice president of financial planning and analysis, overseeing the airline's operating and capital budgets. Murphy also served as United's managing director of financial and capital planning and leading investor relations.

Prior to joining United in 2006, Murphy worked at Merrill Lynch in its investment banking division.

In 2015, Murphy was named one of Crain's Chicago's "40 Under 40." She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Murphy and her husband Tom have two children and reside in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood.