I wasn't traveling on United during the recent disruptions but I'll state a partly contrary view anyway.
Hopping over to Denver without the hassles experienced by throngs of travelers is something the CEO should have tried to avoid. People are quick to criticize especially when offered an easy target. Yet at the same time, it's pretty certain that a chief executive of an airline as large as United carries around in his awareness some quite large responsibilities. I'm willing to give some benefit of the doubt here . . .(quite obviously a simple lawyer role is nothing remotely comparable).
But there's another dimension to this story. As the United pilots MEC has been publicizing in the ongoing contract talks, the pilots union contends the company has not progressed to better and more up-to-date infrastructure (along with work-life balance issues and of course pay and benefits). The current WSJ story about United relates how the disruptions caused by weather presented the company's crew scheduling effort with unmanageable problems, and Mr Kirby is quoted as favoring new technology in this area of company infrastructure. Very reminiscent of Southwest's difficulties just a few months ago.
So it's really not as a member of the traveling public (or SLF to the cognescenti) that I'd be steamed at the chief executive. Though his responsibilities and burdens are large, so are the responsibilities fulfilled in both the left and right seats up front. So I would say that with contract talks bogged down, why did he not realize this hop to Denver not only sends a signal to the MEC akin to the proverbial red flag in the bullfighting ring, but it highlights the evident infrastructure or technology gap. What particulsr responsibilities were so pressing that they couldn't be fulfilled with, you know, the various computer and telecommunications platforms everyone is so accustomed to since the pandemic? The labor & employment lawyer here sees a need for an apology to the Board, if indeed the MEC talks are about to hit just a little more "chop."
Count me as one SLF/attorney happy to see a major airline CEO call out the FAA on staffing levels. Too bad any hope for that to help efforts to address that problem got swallowed up and effectively erased by hopping over the queue.