United Continental Holdings Inc Chief Executive Oscar Munoz will return to work in the first quarter of 2016, he said Thursday, three weeks after suffering a heart attack.
The news ends uncertainty about who will run United, the second-largest U.S. airline by capacity.
The company earlier appointed General Counsel Brett Hart as acting CEO and said its board had been preparing for "all potential outcomes" resulting from Munoz's hospitalization on Oct. 15.
"I am on the road to recovery," Munoz said in a statement.
Last week United said it would not outsource more jobs in baggage handling or customer service at least until 2017, following a round of airport outsourcing this year.