Flanked by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby heaped praises on the Trump administration and echoed Republican calls to immediately reopen the government without strings attached. Folks, I see this as a 4D chess move for JetBlue, with a timeline that gives Kirby little room for error.
United Airlines CEO, Flanked By Vance And Duffy, Plays 4D Chess At White House
Speaking at a press gaggle outside the White House West Wing, Vance delivered remarks then asked if anyone else wanted to speak. Standing next to American Airlines CEO Robert Isom, Kirby stepped up, speaking stylistically off the cuff.
“Thank you, Mr. Vice President, thank you, Secretary Duffy, thank you all for being with us today. I want to start by really thanking the professionals, the air traffic controllers, the folks at the TSA, also the FAA, the people in management. They are working hard, they really are keeping the skies safe.
“We’ve minimized delays. Fewer than 2% of flights have been delayed because of air traffic control shortages, so they’ve done a great job. But, it’s putting on stress on people. It’s not fair to those people, it’s also putting stress on the economy. The first couple of weeks this had no impact on the economy, but as every day goes by, the impacts start to grow and airlines are a pretty good real-time indicator of the economy and we are start to see still minor, but steep booking impact and you see that happening in economy…you put the whole economy at risk.
“It has been 30 days and while I don’t have a position on which partisan side and how things should be settled with healthcare, it has been 30 days. I also think it its time to pass a clean CR. Use that as the opportunity to get into a room behind closed doors and negotiate hard on the real and substantive issues the American people want our politicians on both sides of the aisle to solve, but let’s get a clean CR and get that negotiation done behind closed doors without putting the American workers and the American economy at risk.”
Vance responded, “Great.”
You can also watch his remarks, starting at 6:44.
Yes, I like Scott Kirby and think he has been exactly the leader United needs…he was let go from American Airlines at the perfect time. But it’s not empty adulation: in him, I see a shrewd character who is willing to push the envelope for the betterment of his airline (of course, we all have lapses in judgment and his use of private jet during a June 2023 meltdown is perhaps the most glaring example).
Is Kirby Hostage Or In Control? Yes…
View From The Wing argues, “It was no coincidence that the CEOs of Delta, American, and United all took the same public position on the government shutdown – that it needs to be resolved in exactly the way that the political leaders who regulate them says it does.”
He’s right. Earlier, I covered statements from Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, both arguing for a so-called clean continuing resolution. But I don’t think Kirby is simply a hostage to the administration…I think he sees beyond that.
> Read More: Shutdown Hits First Class: Delta Air Lines Calls On Congress To End The Stalemate
> Read More: American Airlines Calls On Congress To End “Unacceptable” Government Shutdown
When I say 4D chess move, I mean an incredibly complex and seemingly illogical strategy that is either a genius long-term plan or a nonsensical blunder, and it could be the latter.
The move is not without hazard. Kirby’s approach to runway congestion at Newark Liberty International Airport really hurt United this year. Operational issues he hoped he could spin to United’s advantage actaully worked to United’s great disadvantage: flight caps eroded growth and profitability at Newark and Kirby’s arguably apocalyptic warnings about Newark helped to move the Department of Transportation to more strictly limit takeoffs and landings for a longer duration. Even so, United has solidified dominance in Newark: it might not be reaching the numbers it wants, but its competitors are frozen in place, unable to realistically challenge United’s fortress hub across the Hudson from New York City.
JetBlue Is The Goal
Yes, United wants an updated air traffic control system and fewer regulations impacting consumer protections. But as I see it, though, the big goal is JetBlue. United wants the planes, the people, and the JFK slots. It wants a hub at both JFK and EWR (and Boston too…) and Kirby’s relentless courtship of this administration strikes me as being geared toward realizing that goal.
JPMorgan analyst Jamie Baker just addressed what an asset JetBlue will be to the airline that acquires it…I think he’s right. The question is just whether it will be Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines, or United Airlines (or less likely, American Airlines or Delta Air Lines).
This is not a business-friendly administration as much as it is one that pursues economic nationalism, populism, and protectionism. It also rewards loyalty and fiercely punishes dissent. While I would love to see Alaska and JetBlue join up to create a nationwide carrier, I tend to think that Alaska will instead more closely codeshare with American Airlines, thereby solving its East Coast weakness.
I still see Southwest and JetBlue as fundamentally incompatible and while a JetBlue-American partnership makes some sense (same with Delta, if for no other reason than to eliminate a competitor), there’s a lot less overlap than with United. That leaves United Airlines and I think that such a marriage is possible and Kirby sees a deadline of January 20, 2029 to achieve that goal.
In retrospect, the JetBlue-Spirit merger should have been allowed to proceed…I think there is zero question about that. It’s precisely because of that block which has now forced Spirit to seek bankruptcy protection twice that I think the administration may be open to greenlighting a JetBlue-United deal, especially if Trump can claim credit for it somehow (I can see Kirby saying, “President Trump and his administration are helping to keep airfare competitive in New York City and across the country.”)
CONCLUSION
Kirby’s courtship of the Trump administration continues, this time echoing the words of Vice President Vance that Senate Democrats should immediately agree to fund the government, despite not winning healthcare funding. While Kirby has many valid reasons to push for government funding as the CEO of a major airline, I continue to see Kirby laying the groundwork for a merger with JetBlue before the Trump administration sunsets (or extends to a third term…I wish I were joking) by January 2029.
Look for this to continue, then, like a lion waiting to strike, we will see Kirby pounce for JetBlue, hoping that his own personal relationship with the administration can help shepherd the merger through.
> Read More: Is Scott Kirby Praising Trump’s Tariffs To Win A JetBlue Merger?
Good gracious. There are enough reasons not to fly with Untied but him cosying up with Criminal Trump makes it absolute to avoid them.
Only cimrinal here are the democrats and their hostage taking.
Jimmy is not even from America. He’s a 3rd world Commie that hates Trump because he’s finally holding their European countries accountable for paying their fair share.
Trump basically Cucked his country and now he’s crying like the little b#tch he is.
“Trump basically Cucked his country and now he’s crying like the little b#tch he is.”
Dave, aren’t you a fan of our Dear Leader. Did you really mean to say what you said? Sounding like MTG.
Jimmy’s country, not ours.
No, walter, none of our elected officials are ‘criminals,’ except for Donald Trump, who is very much still a convicted felon. Recall that Trump’s felony conviction has not yet been erased through appeal or expungement. Please, waste your time debating that fact. Pound sand, as they say.
Sadly, Ed isn’t much better; corporations only care about shareholder profits. (Feel free to ignore Walter and Dave, unless you want to goad some right-wing trolls on here.)
The democrat shutdown is blowing up in their faces. The funny thing is it’s THEIR voters than rely on all the handouts to survive.
You’ll get your wish. Trump and the Republicans will go ‘nuclear,’ change the Senate rules, pass legislation by simple majority, and screw tens of millions of Americans out of affordable healthcare. Those citizens are about to receive their annual health insurance renewal premium notices (many of which are about to double). Say you were paying $1,000 per month; well, imagine it becoming $2,000 or $2,500 per month for your family. Perhaps, propogandists such as yourself will convince those struggling Americans to blame ‘brown people’ or some other ‘boogeyman,’ but the truth is that it is very much the Republicans that did this to them, all so that the super wealthy and corporations like United could get tax cuts and make more profits over people’s lives. Shameful. The irony is this fallout will disproportionately affect the needy in ‘red’ states, such as yours. Yikes.
So you are saying Obamacare is a failure and would have collapsed 4 years ago without the additional subsidies?
Say it ain’t so, say it ain’t so.
What is it we say in America, get a 2nd or 3rd job or find a gig? Stop asking for handouts and start supporting your family. There is always work outside the Home Depot these days I hear.
Plus Matt and his wife are looking for someone new to clean their house I hear after Consuela got deported.
I have little good to say about insurance companies; President Obama made an error trying to ‘work with’ Republicans and half-step something so important as healthcare for our people. Universal healthcare is the actual solution, but that won’t happen until we’re done with this ‘mess.’
What is the Republican’s actual plan for healthcare? Only the rich get healthcare? Laughable. The truth is that there is no plan. Oh, wait, I mean, he’ll announce it in… ‘two more weeks…’
Trailer trash and farmers are the biggest welfare queens. But you dont care, its people like you that would eat sh!t if a liberal had to smell your breath
Totally wrong. Most recipients are in red states for one. #2, Democrats are in the minority if you didn’t notice. But keep spouting your fascist propaganda.
If you have no moral compass, which Kirby has proven time and again, you can do very well these days. He’s already wealthy beyond belief, but of course that’s never enough. May his wealth continue to grow ever more!
Disgusting. These CEOs are modern-day industrialists propping up a wannabe dictator. Historically, it doesn’t end well for them, as they tend to fall out of windows… (see post-Soviet, Putin’s Russia.)
A “dictator” that can’t even open his government. This guy really sucks at being one. Other than making most of us here watch our net worth grow by the day.
So where did Trump touch you?
Maybe there is hope…
Just this evening, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to continue paying for food stamps during the federal shutdown. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, aids roughly 42 million people and was set to run out of funds on Saturday without intervention. The judge ordered distribution of funds “as soon as possible.”
Well, we’ll see if Trumps 6-member Supreme Court does their ‘emergency shadow docket’ to deny people food.
Or Schumer could reopen the government.
Yea I know, you s$ck Dem c#cl so they do no wrong. It’s all Trumps “fault” to you even if you deep down know he’s doing a great job for most Americans.
But keep deep throating the party line a$$ clown.
Ahh, yes, the almighty Chuck… the unquestioned leader of the all-powerful Democrats… psh.
At this point, he’s just one vote; and, Trump already told GOP Senators to ‘go nuclear,’ so they may not even need Chuck’s vote, ever.
Now that it’s November, those health insurance renewals are gonna hit, and a lot of real people (yeah, actual citizens) are gonna be pissed at having to pay more than double…
Will they believe the lies that it’s ‘illegals’ or ‘evil Dems’ who did this to them? Maybe. Easier to lie than tell the truth, after all. But, lies have a cost; and that debt is always paid.
The real question is what UA will have to give up at EWR to get B6. The sucking up may help, but in a way the bigger X factor is who wins the NJ governor race. May be harder for UA to get the complete sweetheart deal they are playing for if there is an actual counterpoint in the NJ state house.
Good points, Peter.
As far as NJ, VA, (and NYC) go… after 2016 and 2024, I’ve learned to trust nothing, until it’s official. Folks get far too complacent, when they really just need to show up and vote.
Would Sherrill or Ciattarelli really make a huge difference for United at EWR? I donno. It’s complicated. PANYNJ is a bi-state agency, so it’s somewhat about who’s gonna work well with Governor Hochul in NY (likely Sherrill?); yet, UA and EWR is an airline and an airport, so DOT/FAA is involved, which is currently Republican (so Ciattarelli?).
Of course the leadership and majority shareholders of a major corporation, like United, usually want Republicans, because they tend to prioritize lower taxes (and to bash those pesky unions, who only want to keep and pay workers more, ugh).
Yet, the Democrats tend to want to actually invest in both workers and in infrastructure, like the Port Authority’s EWR Vision Plan, which United may want to actually see through, since the new Terminal C is a major part of their plans.
just to be clear,
DL’s share of EWR traffic is growing faster than UA’s. Apparently DL is the carrier that UA said would steal share if UA reduced capacity. UA reduced capacity and DL still stole share.
You can dream all you want about UA getting B6 but it is more likely that DL can buy WN than UA can and will buy all of B6
it is not NYC consumers’ responsibility to bail UA out of its strategic failures of leaving JFK and then mismanaging EWR.
wake me up if the DOT itself disagrees w/ me but I don’t think I will be wrong.
Tim, growth isn’t everything (not to mention, where else are they going to ‘grow’ into there?
Terminal A is basically done); meanwhile, United’s market share at EWR is massive (+60%). For NYC-area, I’d be more concerned about UA’s expansion at JFK, both with the new jetBlue partnership as well as the new Star Alliance terminal opening 2026 (T6/7).
That said, I’m glad Delta is making in-roads at EWR, because, as a consumer, I’m in favor of more competition; and, likewise, the new SkyClub (and Admirals Club) at EWR TA are excellent.
Tim lets do some fact checking on you again:
According to the NYC stats dashboard for EWR:
Sep 2025: UAL – 69.2% DAL – 4.6%
Sep 2024: UAL – 66.3% DAL – 4.3%
Sep 2023: UAL – 67.3% DAL – 3.8%
Sep 2022: UAL – 63.9% DAL – 4.1%
Sep 2021: UAL – 60.9% DAL – 4.7%
Sep 2020: UAL – 59.1% DAL – 5.5%
Sep 2019: UAL – 65.1% DAL – 4.2%
So United lost share in COVID and has steadily increased to an all time high, Delta gained share in COVID and has essentially been flat. Now you might say fine Delta just doesn’t like carrying pax at EWR in September (don’t know why) but I checked 12 month rolling data and it pretty much tracks the same in 2019 Delta was at 4%, United was at 65.4%, now Delta is at 4.2% and United at 67.5%. So you’re just wrong Timmy!
Delta seems to be giving up on NYC anyway, September it was down 2.2% whereas UAL and AA were both up for the NYC area – seems everyone is getting over Delta’s high priced BS there and have spent all their Delta skymiles!
If you were half as good at math, as you are at arguing, you would indeed see the Delta has grown its share at a faster rate than united since united’s operational meltdown at Newark
And this would be a good time to remind you once again that Delta serves all three New York airports. United has a huge black hole because of management ineptitude at leaving JFK.
Come to think of it, American and JetBlue also serve three New York airports, so it is united that is trying to bail itself out of its own stupidity
Andy did a great job of showing how absurd your ‘lies, damned lies @ statistics’ schtick is. You love to obfuscate reality with short term fluctuations of tiny numbers. Perfect for the subject of sleazy politics.
Andy, Excellent job showing how absurd TD’s use of minor fluctuations in tiny numbers is in obfuscating the truth. Lies, damned lies and statistics.
Kirby has repeatedly stated that we are not interested in a merger with JetBlue…he has gone on the record saying that mergers are messy, expensive, and tend to damage morale. As he also points out, we are growing at the rate of one whole JetBlue every two years, so it’s just not necessary….we’d much rather grow organically from within. What this JetBlue partnership does do, is get us back into JFK. It also puts us a bit higher up on the creditor food chain, so if something bad did happen to JetBlue, we’d be near the top of the list to snap up the slots we wanted.
While I think that 4d chess is an exceedingly strong overstatement I think my initial view of Kirby in this case as a self-serving weasel who’s completely willing to destroy any business or governmental norms out of spinelessness is likely also wrong. Kirby isn’t sucking up out of spinelessness, it’s because he wants to be the one who destroys even more of the norms himself. United is painfully obviously trying to put the moves on JetBlue and it’s equally obvious that that would be a catastrophically bad idea. United holds a giant fortress hub in Newark. Giving them another in JFK would be incredibly detrimental to the flying public, to say nothing of the fact that United already has an international route system an order of magnitude better than Delta or American. That makes any Jet Blue-United merger an insanely bad idea so Kirby knows that time is limited but with the current administration he might somehow actually be able to pull this off with enough… ring kissing. He would make an admirable member of this administration.
I hope getting spit roasted by Vance and Duffy was worth it.
What a spineless piece of junk. I hope they nationalize his airline first if we get that far into fascism.
Scott prefers the phrase ‘getting Eiffel-Tower’d’ but spit-roasting is a close second.
All white males, you would think it is a picture from mid last century.
Matthew says, “The move is not without hazard. Kirby’s approach to runway congestion at Newark Liberty International Airport really hurt United this year. Operational issues he hoped he could spin to United’s advantage actually worked to United’s great disadvantage: flight caps eroded growth and profitability at Newark and Kirby’s arguably apocalyptic warnings about Newark helped to move the Department of Transportation to more strictly limit takeoffs and landings for a longer duration.”
That’s EXACTLY what Kirby and UA wanted. Without slots UA was forced to match every entrant’s foray into EWR despite the operational chaos it created. Now EWR is limited to its actual capacity of which UA’s market share increased slightly and UA and its passengers will enjoy much improved operational performance. UA can increase capacity and share by up gauging the aircraft they use in EWR far easier than the competition. Chess v checkers. Advantage UA.
In a normal society, proposed mergers are evaluated SOLELY on economics, law, and consumer welfare and independent on whether the company’s CEO supported causes favorable to the administration or not. 🙁