United Continental Holdings, Inc. declined to provide any details regarding the medical condition of Oscar Munoz, the company's CEO, who was rushed to a hospital a few days earlier, according to a report from Reuters.
The company has not even revealed who will temporarily replace Munoz as CEO while he continues to recover.
A spokesman for the company told Reuters in an email that they do not have any update to share yet.
It is not even known where Munoz is being treated.
United Airlines acknowledged in a statement on Friday that Munoz's family informed them of his hospitalization and further details will be provided.
Reuters also reported that a person familiar with the matter said he had suffered from a heart attack.
Munoz's health problems come after barely a month of being United Airlines' CEO and take over the job of improving the airline's profitability and reputation.
John Coffee, a professor that specializes in corporate governance issue at Columbia University's law school, told Reuters in an email that the company an obligation to disclose material developments.
"It is the obligation of the company to keep the market informed of material developments and this seems clearly material to me," he said.
Greg Taxin, CIO of Luma Asset Management and founder of Glass, Lewis & Co., told Reuters that it is also puzzling on why United hasn't named a temporary CEO to take over Munoz's duties.
"It's probably silly or foolish that they just haven't satisfied people's desire to know how the chain of command is working," he said. "On the other hand, I presume the CEO of United Airlines goes on vacation on a regular basis, and he's not around to answer a question or make a decision and things run just fine."
Bloomberg adds that the company has already been criticized for taking too long to reveal that Munoz's has suffered a heart attack.
Recruiters and scholars said that the almost 24-hour interval between Munoz's hospitalization and its disclosure was too long.
Erik Gordon, a professor with the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan told Bloomberg that shareholders have a right to know the issue.
He said that the "argument about privacy goes out the window if the CEO has a serious health issue."
Munoz takes over as CEO of United Airlines after the previous CEO left while federal authorities were conducting an investigation that involved the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, according to Reuters.
