CEO of United Airlines issues groveling apology after bone-headed public relations disaster

Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, has apologized for using a private jet when his airline was coping with the chaos of massive flight delays during the holiday weekend. CEOs are really slow learners.

The days of CEOs living one way and expecting their customers to patiently turn a blind eye when things go badly for them are over. Whether it is a beer boycott, a retail store boycott, or yes, an airline CEO hopping on a private jet when his customers are stuck in airports for hours on end due to travel delays, American consumers are fed up with being treated as lesser human beings. This shouldn’t be hard to understand.

Wednesday United Airlines canceled 750 flights, one-fourth of its schedule that day. Rather than be inconvenienced as so many of United’s paying customers were, Kirby flew from Teterboro, New Jersey to Denver by private jet. Nearby Newark Liberty International Airport – United’s East Coast hub – was worst affected by cancellations for passengers traveling on his airline.

Kirby has been president of United Airlines since 2016 and CEO since 2020. He apologized on Friday. Friday? Two days later? Several airlines struggled last week with their schedules because of the effect of thunderstorms and severe weather conditions. United was affected the most severely.

‘Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,’ Kirby said in a statement issued by the airline.

‘I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days — often through severe weather — to take care of our customers,’ Kirby said in his statement.

Kirby concluded by promising ‘to better demonstrate my respect for the dedication of our team members and the loyalty of our customers.’

He’s sorry he got caught doing what most of his customers could not do – he flew private because he couldn’t get a seat on a commercial flight. He paid for the private jet out of his own pocket, with the estimation of the cost of his trip being between $30,000 to $50,000.

Airline passengers were stranded for days, waiting for space on flights to their destinations. Some travelers said they spent hours waiting in line for customer assistance or to find their checked bags.

Other airlines were able to recover and were essentially back on schedule by Friday. United, however, continued to struggle to catch up. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) predicted Friday would be the busiest travel day in more than three years.

United scrubbed about 520 mainline flights Thursday. On Friday evening, 236 of the roughly 430 U.S. flights that had been canceled were United flights, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking site.

United on Friday said storms in Denver, Chicago and the East Coast will pose challenges but that it is ready for the busy July 4 holiday weekend.

“Our reliability continues to improve with far fewer cancellations today compared to previous days,” the airline said in a statement, adding that most of Friday’s cancellations were made in advance.

United is having problems with its relationship with employees, too.

The airline’s pilots and flight attendants said United’s crew scheduling department has been understaffed, leaving crew members unable to get through to receive information about reassignments.

“The airline actually ‘lost’ crews in the system for days on end because there was such a significant breakdown in running the operation,” said Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

United said earlier this week that it had added staffing and mandatory overtime for crew schedulers in an effort to catch up. Champion on Wednesday told pilots that the crew desk was “staffed at 130% of normal.” The airline is also offering triple pay for flight attendants to pick up certain open trips.

Kirby lives in Dallas with his second wife and their children and he has an address in Colorado. He’s a self-described “climate change geek” who plans to make United ‘100 percent green’ by 2025. Maybe he should concentrate on the basics first, like proper staffing and customer service. There is a photo of him and his wife at the White House during a Christmas season reception in 2022. How does the climate change geek justify private jet travel? Like the rest of the hypocrites, I guess.

Passengers and employees were unimpressed with Kirby’s apology.

During an operational meltdown, Mr. Kirby left his people behind, all in the comfort of a private jet. Mr. Kirby if there ever was a time to get serious about finishing @UnitedPilots contract, moving @afa_cwa deal along
& get everyone back on course; now would be the time. https://t.co/DalvbMJhzZ

— Andrew Olarte (@andrewatdca) July 1, 2023

One passenger posted a screenshot of Kirby’s $10 million salary which is more than the CEOs of Delta and American Airlines.

Meanwhile, Kirby is in a war of words with Pete Buttigieg, the Secretary of Transportation. Kirby said in a memo to employees that the FAA failed the airline over the weekend because of a lack of adequate staffing at air traffic control centers.

But Buttigieg snapped back in an interview with CNN, saying the airline ‘has some internal issues they need to work through.’

‘I want to be very clear, air traffic control issues are not the number one issue causing cancellations and delays, he said on Thursday,’ he said.

‘They’re not even the number two issue. All the data, including industry’s own data is very clear on that.’

Buttigieg on Thursday singled out United for its delays, saying other airlines were handling the situation better than them.

‘With the exception of United, airlines have recovered to a more typical cancellation/delay rate as of this morning, after the severe weather earlier this week,’ Buttigieg tweeted.

United said it was giving travelers affected by the mass flight disruptions 30,000 MileagePlus points. Will that satisfy disgruntled customers?

United sent the 30,000 miles to customers who were delayed overnight or didn’t get to their destination at all, a spokeswoman said. She declined to say how many customers received the email.

More than 42,000 U.S. flights arrived late from last Saturday through Friday and more than 7,900 were canceled — or more than 5% of airlines’ schedules — a rate that was more than triple the average so far this year, according to flight-tracker FlightAware. United fared worse than competitors with about half of its mainline schedule arriving late and almost a fifth canceled over that period, FlightAware data show.

We’ll see what happens going forward. Kirby may have to adjust his standard of living a bit to reflect his job performance.