During the Biden Administration, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby invested in environmental technologies. He had employees putting their pronounces in emails, and on their name tags. His airline supported affirmative action in California and committed to choosing board members on the basis of race. And they imposed vaccine mandates on employees before the federal government did.
They were the ‘most woke’ airline. They even suspended Twitter ads in protest of Elon Musk and had speech codes.
Now in the Trump administration, after donating a million dollars to the President’s inauguration, Kirby came out in favor of the President’s tariffs.
He appeared with the Vice President to take sides in the government shutdown.
HOLY CRAP! The CEO of United Airlines is now GOING OFF on Chuck Schumer and the Democrats for shuttering the government and refusing to pay air traffic controllers
It's getting worse for Chuck!
"Let's get a CLEAN CR…without putting the American workers and economy at… pic.twitter.com/qjjGKjL0SB
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 30, 2025
Stephen Miller is the President’s Deputy Chief of Staff. He’s the architect and defender of the President’s most extreme policies on immigration, like family separation. His wife has a podcast. That podcast’s latest guest? Scott Kirby.
NEW: @united CEO Scott Kirby on how long it will take their operations to resume back to full capacity:
"We'll be able to ramp up as quickly as the FAA. The FAA is gonna be the constraint.”
“I was 100% supportive of what they did and I think they did a really good job in a… pic.twitter.com/8pjlc9iKLy
— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) November 13, 2025
Captain Renault said to Major Strasser in Casablanca, “I have no conviction, if that’s what you mean. I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy.”
During the Biden administration, Kirby was woke, making everyone use pronouns, promoting affirmative action, signing on to the President’s climate and pandemic priorities. Back then I assumed that was a reflection of honest belief, rather than craven self-interest.
The complete 180 he’s done reveals something else entirely. It was only a year ago that Scott Kirby was being roasted on the right for resurfaced clips where he dressed in drag for US Airways Halloween. Now Woke United Airlines has transformed itself into MAGA Air.
What will the next ideological reinvention be, in 2028?
Relying on business leaders to ‘do the right thing’ is nearly always a lost cause.
Scott Kirby and other CEOs today are like Siemens and Bayer from that other era. And, Stephen Miller looks and acts like Joseph Goebbels, prove me wrong.
The people have the real power; we, individually and collectively, have to stand up against overreach, regardless of who is in-charge.
Anyway, nice rage-bait, Gary. “I must say…damn good stuff, sir…” (Inglourious Basterds)
A CEO kissing the a%s of a politician of which said politician they may need favorable treatment from? Like how all the criminal bankers kissed the butt of Obama in 2009 so he wouldn’t send them to jail? Like this is something new.
Gary, it’s disappointing that this article is more political than it is travel-related, but since you put it out there I’ll need to correct a major error: You state that “Stephen Miller is the President’s Deputy Chief of Staff. He’s the architect and defender of the President’s most extreme policies on immigration, like family separation”. That’s flat false, for two important reasons: 1) For families that have the potential to be separated due to criminal activity by one or both parents, they are given the choice to take their children with them as they leave. The family is not forcibly separated. 2) Moreover, it was Biden who “lost” 300,000 unaccompanied minors (out of 470,000 on the records as illegally entering the United States). It is President Trump who launched an unprecedented effort to locate them (and save those whom Biden had placed with sponsors such as registered/known sex offenders). Your original choice of words was flagrantly false and uncalled for.
Why should we be surprised to hear this from Scott Kirby? Just talk to UA employees, e.g. check-in agents, flight attendants… you will see his true personalities. Some said that they would rather trust a king cobra than Kirby.
@1990 – for a business leader to “do the right thing” that means they are growing the business, raising profitability and providing value to shareholders. Frankly anything else is secondary. In this case no need to pander to Biden when he can’t help you any more. CEOs across the board are smart to focus their words and actions in favor of whomever is in the white house. That isn’t being wrong – it is doing exactly the “right thing” for their business and ensuring their employees continue to have jobs.
He’s a kiss up and a yes man. . .why he didn’t work out at AA. Eventually, it will catch up to him when he has to make the tough decisions.
Pretty sure he didn’t have employees putting their “pronounces” in their emails. As Twain said, the difference between the right word and the wrong word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.
@George Romey — ‘A tale as old as time.’ And, apparently, it works well for them and their shareholders (Kirby is merely a mercenary for the ‘asset’ class, after all).
As to post-2008 financial crisis, yeah, those civil lawsuits (billions in fines) were a mere slap-on-the-wrist, and, you’re correct that no top-level executives faced criminal charges or jail time. It’s really upsetting to the rest of us who faced real economic consequences for their greed. Some say it’s a lack of commitment, competence, and courage by the DOJ (great read, The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives). Ultimately, many of those banks were not only “too big to fail,” but also, “too big to jail.” The Dodd-Frank Act (and Basel III, internationally) sought to reform this, and ensure greater resiliency (new capital and liquidity requirements), but, currently, shadow banking (hedge funds, private equity), general secrecy and de-regulation, monopolization and regulatory capture, rampant speculation, insider trading, market manipulation, and blatant corruption by the literal President through cryptocurrency and global kleptocracy are probably far worse today than in the 2000s or 2010s.
@1990: Take it easy with the Holocaust revisionism and inversion. You are entitled to not like Stephen Miller and to disagree with his policies but to call him Joseph Goebbels is a massive insult and shows huge disrespect to the victims of the Holocaust.
Kirby is thinking doing deportation flights . He could be paid in ICE points redeemable for White House Favors such as making certain those annoying flight attendants will be ordered to never strike or overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom.
@Common Sense — No, the comparison is apt to 1930s Germany, the rise of that party, and Goebbels use of propaganda to obtain and keep power by scapegoating the vulnerable.
I did not bring up the Holocaust, you did. Be honest; we don’t know where any of this, today, leads. If the end result is a mass extermination of people, that would be the worst outcome. But, no, that hasn’t happened, yet. Just the early stages, removal and exile of those vulnerable groups. See, mass deportations, ICE raids, extrajudicial rendition to El Salvadorian gulags, etc. Undeniable. Fact.
THAT’S A VERY APPROPRIATE QUOTE FROM CAPTAIN RENAULT. KIRBY, LIKE TRUMP & VANCE, HASN’T SCRUPLES OR COURAGE, NOT EVEN BASIC COURAGE. IT’S HARD TO TALK, INNIT SCOTTY, WITH ONLY HALF YOUR MOUTH.
Folks, Gary literally includes a clip from the film Casablanca… “I blow with the wind” (I presume, Gary’s suggesting that Cpt. Renault and Scott Kirby are alike, these days.) Recall, that film, released 1942, during the heart of WWII, literally about a stopover for refugees escaping occupied-Europe… Sure, Rick (Humphrey Bogart) wanted to stay ‘neutral,’ but ultimately, he chose to engage, to fight back. As Laszlo tells him: “Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win!”
Some of you have forgotten the lessons of our past. No doubt, a few of you will dare to feign ‘outrage’ or even applaud commenter @Common Sense above, but, you ironically have lost your ‘common sense’ by doing so. Anyone with a conscience should reject his rhetorical ‘dance’ of claiming anyone who mentions that history is merely ‘disrespectful’ to the victims of that history. No, I am trying to prevent it from happening again. When I say, ‘never again,’ I mean it.
@Maryland — If so, that’s really disturbing and sad; perhaps, Kirby (and other CEOs) realize that the objectively bad economic policies of this administration are very much leading to a larger recession, so he may have more and more spare, unused aircraft available soon. Still, blaming our problems on vulnerable people, then forcibly removing them, doesn’t solve the underlying economic issues. (‘How many times old man…’)
@1990 – “I did not bring up the Holocaust, you did.”
Did you miss the part where you typed Joseph Goebbels’s name? Or are you really that dense?
Whole-heartedly agree with @1990 here. Stephen Miller is a dangerous opportunist, and my stance has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with morals. This administration ignores the law and uses the judicial system that ultimately filters up to cronies he placed on the highest court in the land to grind accountability to a hault or make it go away altogether.
Regarding Kirby, he’s clearly engaging in behavior that is indicative of placing shareholder value above all else, but in this realm of government oversight and opportunities arising from utterly deplorable policies, he knows exactly how to position himself and not piss off the mad king.
I’m really sad EWR is the only airport that makes any sense for me to frequent.
I fly United a lot. And when the ads boasting about how United was choosing pilots by race to encourage diversity came on the screen you could see many people were not thrilled. I want the best pilots, usually trained by the Air Force or Navy and veterans with thousands of hours of flight time. I do not want some 60 year old person who ticks multiple minority boxes being chosen after a relatively short training period.
I saw a 3 striper (first officer) walking through Denver International with her roller bag who was at least 60 years old, looked like a retired kindergarten teacher. And she is going to be sitting in the left seat relatively soon? It is possible that she is a retired AF officer, but my money is that she was looking for a career change late in life.
@Brian L
1990 has so severe TDS, he or she can’t see straight. By the way I don’t like that weasel Scott Kirby.
I agree with 1990. Finding a victim to blame, this time under the meaningless term “woke” is an old, old trick that distracts people from who is really making things worse for them. (Though frankly I’d rather be woken up than stumble through life following a demagogue and his gang.) Ask yourself, who is more of a danger to you and the country, a tiny minority of trans people (at most 1% of the US) who just want to be left alone, all minorities–and women–who just want to be treated fairly and with respect, or the 1% who own about 30% of the national wealth who just want to have more, more, and more of it.
@Brian L. — Oh, so ‘Goebbels’ only means ‘the Holocaust,’ and if you disagree, you’re ‘dense.’ /s
No, I missed nothing; you and the other commenter above are actually minimizing the threat of what lead to those atrocities in the past.
While the structural differences between the 21st-century American political system and 1930s Nazi Germany are profound, the comparison between Stephen Miller and Joseph Goebbels rests on their shared ideological blueprint for seizing and applying state power.
They are both highly influential, extremist political strategists whose methods rely on ultranationalism, ethnic scapegoating, and the systematic use of charged rhetoric. They cultivate a narrative of existential threat, where a specific minority or ‘other’ is blamed for national problems, to justify aggressive and discriminatory state action.
Miller’s political agenda mirrors an ideological drive toward a chillingly similar goal of unrestrained state power. His policies and publicly discussed goals, particularly the association with plans (like those central to Project 2025) to dismantle the federal civil service and seize regulatory control, represent a clear effort to bypass democratic checks and concentrate authority within the executive branch.
The crucial difference here is in the outcome and direct culpability. Goebbels was the chief ideologue and propagandist who created the intellectual and emotional justification for the Holocaust. He did more than just spread hate; he actively supervised the deportations of Jews from Berlin and ensured the total moral mobilization required to carry out the genocide. His responsibility for the regime’s murderous agenda is an indisputable historical fact.
So, we should take Miller seriously, because, he’s starting us down a dark path. ‘Just following orders’ (or, just ‘enforcing the law’) is not sufficient excuse for denying our fellow humans their dignity or rights, including, especially, due process, freedom of speech, the rights to vote and assemble, and everything else enumerated in the U.S. Constitution.
@drrichard — Thank you, sir. Keep fighting the good fight. This topic is not about mere differences of opinion on tax policy or some other trivial matter; it’s the whole ball-game. Some above already know this, too, but they think they’re on the ‘winning’ team and as long as they support the ‘regime,’ they’ll be ‘fine,’ yet, in reality, and historically, with fascism, we all lose.
@James – in fact in 2021 United told employees to add their pronounds to email signatures https://viewfromthewing.com/the-return-of-woke-united-airlines/
They recommended sharing pronouns when introducing yourself (“My name is Jane and my pronouns are they/them/theirs”) and using gender-neutral language addressing groups (“everyone,” “all” “folks” not “ladies and gentlemen” etc.).
Personally I’m rather partial to “y’all” but I live in Texas.
Your comment on Kirby is unfair. 180 is not the same as 360 and your comments were suggestive of a 360 degree change. Why penalize him for have good common sense? Retirement fund are highly based on stocks. We need a good economic system. Kirby knows that yet you blast him for a full political change. Shame on you.
@Coffee Please — Bud, I haven’t even mentioned the President, yet; not to mention, didn’t you hear, TDS is now ‘T. Devotion Syndrome.’ Get help. The cult won’t last forever. The fever will break.
@1990: Come on. Which is the party ignoring all the anti semitism in their party and allowing openly terrorist supporting protests in all the schools (Germany 1935)? Etc etc etc?
Stephen Miller is pushing for illegal immigrants to get the boot, which, I have news for you, is the law, and has always been the law. He is not doing any of the stuff you claim he is.
@Benny — Thank you, as well. Integrity is everything. Miller’s own relatives have publicly criticized him, basically reminding us all that he knows better.
His uncle, David S. Glosser, said: “I have watched with dismay and increasing horror as my nephew, who is an educated man and well aware of his heritage, has become the architect of immigration policies that repudiate the very foundation of our family’s life in this country.” And also, “If my nephew’s ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out.”
His cousin, Alisa Kasmer, said: “I am living with the deep pain of watching someone I once loved become the face of evil.” And also, “We celebrated holidays each year with the reminder to stand up and say ‘never again.’ But what you are doing breaks that sacred promise. It breaks everything we were taught… How can you do to others what has been done to us? How can you wake up each day and repeat the cruelty that our people barely escaped from?”
Some here vocally don’t like me, likely because I call them out, regularly, for their hate and bigotry; others merely disagree with me on matters of preference or policy, which, is totally cool, because reasonable minds can and should respectfully disagree; finally, a few think this is all just a joke, but, no, not this topic; this one’s for real.