Business air travel will return to 2019 levels by 2022. That’s the view of United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby who spoke to us yesterday at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Zoom is fine for maintaining relationships,” the Air Force Academy graduate said, “but not good for developing new relationships.” There will soon come a time when, he said, “if you try a sales call on Zoom, you’re going to lose to somebody who shows up in person."
Kirby was previously president of both American Airlines and US Airways, which makes him one of the “deans” of the U.S. airline business. He said United’s portfolio is comprised of one-third domestic leisure travel, one-third business travel, and one-third international long-haul flights. Right now, United's domestic leisure travel is up over 100 percent from pre-pandemic levels, even with the pandemic still underway. That performance offers a lifeline to United since business travel is down 80 percent and the long-haul business is barely negligible “because of closed international borders.” It must be said that United has been selling middle seats on its domestic flights all along. In contrast, Delta Airlines has continued not to sell middle seats throughout the pandemic, though that practice will end on May 1.
Kirby offered his views on leadership, which he said is doing the right thing no matter the difficulty. He pointed to climate change and diversity as two demanding areas in which he says United is leading. He came across as somebody who actually believes this and is not just posturing. In fact, he spoke to us on a day when United announced its commitment to graduate 50 percent women and people of color from its pilot training academy by 2030. He said that 19 percent of United’s pilots are currently women and people of color, which he indicated is already best in industry.
On yet another thorny subject, Kirby told attendees that he is open to mandating vaccinations as a prerequisite for flying on United Airlines. He added that this decision needs to be part of a larger industry agreement, however, which means United will not go it alone on the politically fraught vaccination front but only in keeping with a larger set of standards reached by all or most of major carriers.
