Tag Archives for scott kirby.
United CEO Scott Kirby insists only Delta and United can be “premium” airlines, dismissing American’s strategy. But United and Delta aren’t as elite as claimed—and American Airlines has a clear path to leapfrog them both.
United CEO Scott Kirby predicts Spirit Airlines won’t survive past this year, saying bluntly “Off the cliff they go” and declaring their business model already dead. Here’s why he’s right – and where he’s wrong.
We’ve aleady seen airlines pull back flying for the fall, in anticipation of lower demand. That’s focused largely on early morning, late night and redeye trips and off-peak days.
Kirby can’t stop the tariffs, but by offering the President political cover in the business community he might get something in exchange later on? Now Kirby says that Trump’s trade turmoil will make the U.S. stronger.
Some customers choose on schedule and price. They may not value the difference in product across airlines, or may not be aware of them. To Kirby, those are basic economy customers – show them the lowest price and give them the least. (This may be a mistake, I will explain below.) Others choose on product elements. Those are the customers to fight for.
At an investor conference this week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby was asked whether United might buy another airline? “JetBlue is the obvious candidate” and don’t ask me, go ask JetBlue!
United’s Scott Kirby has been predicting the demise of low cost competitors for years. So far he hasn’t been wrong. On Wednesday morning’s earnings call, he placed the blame for this on the airports and the federal government as he explained why his airline would outcompete them in the major cities where they have their biggest operations.
United Airlines supported affirmative action in California, adopted speech codes; committed to choosing board members on the basis of race; and encouraged the use of pronouns by employees. They’re making big bets on biofuels and electric planes. And they imposed vaccine mandates on employees during the pandemic, before the Biden administration attempted to do so.
I’m genuinely struck by the shift in United Airlines CEO Scoott Kirby since taking the reins at that airline. He was President of US Airways and American Airlines under Doug Parker, and known as a straight spreadsheet guy. At US Airways he wouldn’t even add inflight wifi until he could actually see customers booking away from the airline because they didn’t have it.
United is still careful with cost, and their new premium image often outstrips the reality of the product and experience, but they make investments in customer experience others aren’t making and take risks for payoffs that will be harder to quantify. And it’s working out for the airline.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby laid out the competitive landscape of the airline industry for his employees. United is doing well, Kirby is overly optimistic. He offers important insights but the path is far more fraught for the airline than he lets on.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
