In his 19 months as CEO of Weirton Steel Corp., John Walker has pulled off something truly exceptional in the besieged steel sector. While dozens of other steelmakers have gone bust, Walker restructured Weirton (WRTL) from top-to-bottom without plunging it into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Moreover, he won crucial job cuts and work-rule changes from a unionized labor force that collectively controls the Weirton (W.Va.) mill through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

Soon, Walker may be doing an encore performance. Sources say the 44-year-old exec is the front-runner to succeed UAL Corp.'s (UAL) interim Chairman and CEO John Creighton Jr. The sources say the UAL board is considering at least one other outsider for the job -- Glenn F. Tilton, the vice-chairman of ChevronTexaco. And former UAL Chairman and CEO Gerald Greenwald has been talking with United's unions about returning to the airline as a nonexecutive chairman.

However, the sources add that Walker is being championed by the carrier's unions. UAL could announce his hiring as early as Labor Day, when Creighton and much of UAL's top management team are expected to resign.

EXTREME PRESSURE. It's easy to see what makes Walker an attractive candidate. UAL is the biggest ESOP company in the U.S., following a 1994 buyout led by pilots and mechanics at UAL's United Airlines unit. The carrier, with its high pay rates and rigid work rules, is also losing market share to lower-cost upstarts, much like old-line steel producers such as Weirton. Walker also has some insight into United's woes: He has been on the UAL board since March.

In addition, UAL is under extreme pressure to land a permanent chief executive soon. Creighton, a retired Weyerhaeuser chairman and CEO who took over last October on a temporary basis, announced last spring that he intended to go back to retirement in Seattle as soon as possible. He turns 70 on Sept. 1.

At the same time, UAL management has set a mid-September deadline to get major pay concessions from employees to boost the carrier's odds of securing $1.8 billion in federal loan guarantees. Without the government's backing, UAL execs warn, the company won't have enough money to repay $900 million in loans that come due by yearend and, therefore, will be forced into bankruptcy. However, the International Association of Machinists (IAM) is refusing to negotiate any givebacks until a new CEO is in charge.

MORE MILITANT. While Walker may have a lot going for him, restructuring UAL without taking it into Chapter 11 may be beyond his ability. First, there's the matter of size. With $1 billion in sales and 3,000 employees, Weirton is a penny-stock company, ranking seventh among traditional steelmakers. By comparison, United Airlines is the world's No. 2 carrier, with operations around the globe. It had $16.1 billion in sales in 2001 and, even after dismissing 20,000 employees after September 11, has a 84,000-person payroll.

In addition, labor at UAL is much more militant than the in-house union at Weirton. Creighton told unions on Aug. 28 that the Elk Grove Township (Ill.) company must slash its costs by 20% a year and impose these wage concessions for six years in order to get loan guarantees from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board. But earlier this summer, the IAM summarily dismissed Creighton's request for even a one-year, 10% pay cut -- never mind warnings of a bankruptcy.

Also, under UAL's ESOP bylaws, the IAM and the Air Line Pilots Assn. have veto power over the hiring of a CEO, so anyone who gets the top job must be beholden to organized labor. Go too far, and the new CEO could have two directors gunning for him, as Creighton and his predecessor, James E. Goodwin, both have learned. "The airline industry -- and United in particular -- is truly like no other when it comes to labor/management issues," warns a former UAL insider. "There is a credibility problem throughout the industry, and that's big-time at United."

RUSH JOB. Complicating matters for Walker -- or ChevronTexaco's Tilton -- is the fact that he may be forced to start without much inside help. Sources say UAL President Rono J. Dutta and Andrew P. Studdert, the company's chief operating officer, both intend to resign on Sept. 2, along with Creighton.

Then, there's the matter of time. At Weirton, Walker began his restructuring effort shortly after becoming the chief executive on January 1, 2001, but didn't put the finishing touches on it until 2002's second quarter. At UAL, he would have only weeks if he wants to get loan guarantees from the government before UAL's bank-breaking IOUs begin coming due in late November. Investors clearly see little hope under UAL's current management. UAL's share price has plummeted 90% in the last year, close at $3.05 on Aug. 29.

If he gets the CEO post at UAL, Walker's ascent would be extraordinary. He grew up in Corning, N.Y., a middle son in a family of eight children. His father worked for Corning, and his mother wrote children's songs. Walker has said he suffered from dyslexia as a child. By one account, he left home at age 17 to find work because his family was too poor to house him.

REGULAR GUY. Walker put himself through the Virginia Polytechnical Institute in Blacksburg, where he earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering. He then received a master's degree in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and hired on as a consultant at McKinsey's new Pittsburgh office. One of his first projects was to advise Weirton Steel in 1988 on whether to replace its antiquated steel-casting machine. Weirton's chairman liked Walker so much, he hired him.

Walker couldn't be reached, but those who know him describe him as regular guy, someone who plays blues piano and is comfortable in work boots. "He's personable, he's open, he's honest, he's creative," says Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers of America, who has worked with Walker on such issues as combating imported steel. "I guess if you know the basic elements of business, it doesn't matter if you're making steel or flying airplanes."

Others aren't so sure. Certainly, Weirton Steel is on much firmer ground today thanks to Walker's restructuring. Nonetheless, it still tallied $80.4 million in losses in the first half of 2002. Walker worked out a debt restructuring that postpones any repayments till 2004 and got $70 million in added liquidity through new deals with vendors and lenders.

WRONG TRACK? But Weirton's obligations remain a long-term millstone. Also, its pension and retiree health-care funds are considerably underfunded and will require hefty contributions as soon as next year. "Go look at Weirton and the record it's achieved," cautions another former UAL insider.

"I don't think the board at United is on the right track," this former executive adds. "In this setting, if UAL tries to bring in a new guy, they're going to end up with a person who is not qualified to be the permanent CEO, because no one who's really qualified would take that job now."

But with UAL already on a course toward bankruptcy, it could do worse than hiring Walker. At least, he can claim one success -- in the troubled steel industry, no less