United CEO Apologizes for Flying Private While Customers Were Stranded
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United CEO Apologizes for Flying Private While Customers Were Stranded
United Airlines Holdings Inc. canceled 751 flights on Wednesday, more than any other airline, and its hub airport in Denver was among the hardest hit.
So when it emerged that United’s Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby was able to bypass the congestion by taking a private jet to Denver from Teterboro Airport that day, the executive issued a swift apology.
“Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” Kirby said in an emailed statement late Friday. “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.”
So when it emerged that United’s Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby was able to bypass the congestion by taking a private jet to Denver from Teterboro Airport that day, the executive issued a swift apology.
“Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” Kirby said in an emailed statement late Friday. “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.”
Is there a semester on removing common sense part of MBA courses . Idiotic behaviour by this guy short of United going bankrupt if he couldnt get to Denver that day nothign could be so important as to outweigh the sheer stupidity of what he did-should someone like that eb trusted to be CEO of an airline. Similar degrees of poor judgement by many of his airline staff could have literally fatal results.
In the UK we have the CEo of a major water company (heard of them ?) sending her peers an email detailing how they shoud plan to stop a labour government renationalising water. Ending with 'please make sure you keep this confidential.'. Apart fromt the fact that she should lose her job immediately and face criminal prosecution for conspiracy to defraud, how could she be so stupid as to think that in the current climate nothign in that industry is going to stay confidential for 5 minutes.
One law for the ....
In the UK we have the CEo of a major water company (heard of them ?) sending her peers an email detailing how they shoud plan to stop a labour government renationalising water. Ending with 'please make sure you keep this confidential.'. Apart fromt the fact that she should lose her job immediately and face criminal prosecution for conspiracy to defraud, how could she be so stupid as to think that in the current climate nothign in that industry is going to stay confidential for 5 minutes.
One law for the ....
Now if he had loaded the jet with deserving folks trying to get to Denver….and announced beforehand that he was paying for the jet himself..maybe he could have gotten away with it.
Was there any pressing reason he HAD to get to Denver?
Does only he have the United “Secret Launch Codes” and eye recognition is needed to enter them…only at a computer terminal in a guarded room in a bunker deep beneath the Denver Airport?
In any case…not a bright move!
Was there any pressing reason he HAD to get to Denver?
Does only he have the United “Secret Launch Codes” and eye recognition is needed to enter them…only at a computer terminal in a guarded room in a bunker deep beneath the Denver Airport?
In any case…not a bright move!
So, “Taking a private jet was the wrong decision..." ?
Well, this arrogant clown had all the time in the world to consider his decision and its ramifications in the context of the status of the USA airline industry.
Yet he still came up with the wrong decision ? His apology is just meaningless.
His phony, insincere apology is insulting.
I thought these people got to the top because they're smart.
They aren't. They're arrogant.
"Let them eat cake" comes to mind.
Well, this arrogant clown had all the time in the world to consider his decision and its ramifications in the context of the status of the USA airline industry.
Yet he still came up with the wrong decision ? His apology is just meaningless.
His phony, insincere apology is insulting.
I thought these people got to the top because they're smart.
They aren't. They're arrogant.
"Let them eat cake" comes to mind.
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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.
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.
Did his flying on a private jet cause United’s delays?
Would United’s delays have been alleviated if he had not flown on a private jet?
Kudos to Kirby for supporting the bizjet community at $5K/hr. Trickle down is a wonderful thing.
Would United’s delays have been alleviated if he had not flown on a private jet?
Kudos to Kirby for supporting the bizjet community at $5K/hr. Trickle down is a wonderful thing.
I think this episode says a lot about his staff which directly reflects back on him. It appears nobody around him, and there are going to be lots, said “Hey boss taking the private jet while the airline schedule is melting down isn’t a good idea”.
Ultimately big companies don’t thrive because the boss is a genius, they thrive because he or she hires lots of smart people to work for them. Those people are where the actual work gets done, or not done.
Herb Kellner, the famous boss who turned Southwest into the only consistently profitable airline in the world got all the praise, but a deeper look shows how good he was at finding, hiring, and enabling outstanding subordinates.
As the old management shibboleth goes, First rate managers hire first rate assistants, second rate managers hire third rate assistants….
Ultimately big companies don’t thrive because the boss is a genius, they thrive because he or she hires lots of smart people to work for them. Those people are where the actual work gets done, or not done.
Herb Kellner, the famous boss who turned Southwest into the only consistently profitable airline in the world got all the praise, but a deeper look shows how good he was at finding, hiring, and enabling outstanding subordinates.
As the old management shibboleth goes, First rate managers hire first rate assistants, second rate managers hire third rate assistants….
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Am i the only one who isn't bothered or surprised at all if the CEO of an $18bn company uses a private jet
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It would be an interesting survey to find out how many airline CEOs use the airlines exclusively for business and personal travel. The bizjet provides numerous advantages over an airliner with about the only disadvantage being cost.
United’s operations control center is in Denver. If I were the CEO and the airline is melting down that is the place I would want to be. I have not been in UAL’s OCC but have spent time in another running an airline of similar size. The amount of information available in the OCC can’t be duplicated remotely. United was very close to needing to perform a complete shut down and reset. That’s a CEO call and requires every bit of info available.
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United’s operations control center is in Denver. If I were the CEO and the airline is melting down that is the place I would want to be. I have not been in UAL’s OCC but have spent time in another running an airline of similar size. The amount of information available in the OCC can’t be duplicated remotely. United was very close to needing to perform a complete shut down and reset. That’s a CEO call and requires every bit of info available.