United Airlines President Scott Kirby has made it clear…he is not jumping ship (again) and returning to American Airlines.
Rumors are abounding that American Airlines CEO Doug Parker will not survive the month at the helm of AA. With American, under Parker’s leadership, having found a way to alienate shareholders, employees, and customers, most analysts, including this one, believe that Parker’s days are numbered.
Enter Scott Kirby, the aspiring lieutenant of Parker dating back to their days at America West and US Airways. After the American Airlines – US Airways merger, most thought Kirby was being groomed to replace Parker as CEO of AA. Indeed, he was. But something happened in 2016.
During remarks at an aviation conference this week, Kirby shared that in late Spring 2016 Parker came to his office, said he was planning to retire, and that Kirby would replace him. But three months later, Parker returned to his office and told Kirby that he needed to resign. It remains unclear what turned Kirby from favored son to outcast, but less than a month later Kirby assumed the position of President of United Airlines, a position created just for him.
In what can only be described as unambiguous clarity, Kirby was asked if he would consider returning to American Airlines as CEO and quickly said:
I made a commitment to Oscar. Oscar was big enough to take a chance on me to bring me to United, and Oscar and United Airlines is the place where I’m going to end my career.
So whoever the new AA CEO will be, it likely won’t be Kirby.
CONCLUSION
I’m fascinated about what happened between the spring and summer of 2016 to launch Kirby from “heir apparent” to “clean out your desk”. For better or for worse, we will not soon see Kirby at the helm of American Airlines.
image: United
Such a shame. I would love to see Scott and his spreadsheet leave United and return to AA. They really deserve each other.
Maybe we can hope for him to retire soon from United? Maybe? Well a guy can always hope.
I think he is getting better, though we’ll see how bad the new MileagePlus program is as the weeks go by…
Good riddance. Destroying 1 airline is plenty. We don’t need to see him do the same to UA, DL, etc.
New blood at both airlines from those who know what a share holder is and a loyal customer is
Perhaps he is improving with age.
I think so:
https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2019/09/19/united-airlines-quality/
Kirby said United is where he is going to end his career. (see above article).
Kirby should quit now.
AA doesn’t need Scott Kirby back. While he seems like a bright financial mind (and as a bean counter myself, I have utmost respect for his numbers savvy), he simply doesn’t have the PR skills necessary to handle the debacle that is AA today. And based on the ham-handed approach to the domestic Premium Plus rollout, he doesn’t seem to have the capacity to learn the softer touch, either. Consider that a huge caution flag that I suspect UA plane to ignore, given that it looks like his reign as CEO is pre-ordained.
For that matter, AA needs to completely clean house of its America West management team. They need an outsider, like an Oscar Munoz, to come in with a real strategic vision that isn’t wed to the HP dba US dba AA mindset.
Oh please, do us all (at United) a favor Scott and go back to AA or anyone else. He is ruining United Airlines (hard to believe it could get any worse since the merger/ Smisek, etc).