As President Trump seeks to quickly dismantle Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs from the federal government, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby is walking a fine line emphasizing merit-based hiring while maintaining the carrier’s progressive DEI policies.
United Airlines CEO Stresses Merit Without Adjusting DEI Policy
One of Mr. Trump’s first acts as 47th President was an executive order seeking to eliminate DEI initiatives at the federal level:
“[T]he American people have witnessed first-hand the disastrous consequences of illegal, pernicious discrimination that has prioritized how people were born instead of what they were capable of doing.”
As part of that change, Trump has ordered that job performance reviews for those in “critical safety positions” at the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) occur.
Kirby was asked during an investor call this week whether these efforts would further exacerbate Air Traffic Control staffing issues and also whether United is considering rescinding its own DEI policies.
His answer:
“So I will answer for United and let DOT answer for themselves. Although we’re positive — feel good about the DOT and administration and the impact that they will have on the air traffic control. I think there is a ton of upside there. But at United, we have always have today and we’ll continue to hire based on merit. But we are in the fortunate position that we’re a very high-quality employer, and we make efforts to cast a wide net for people coming into United. In fact, last year, we had over 600,000 applications for fewer than 10,000 positions. And because of that, we can be incredibly selective about who we pick. And while we do hire on merit, we can hire the absolute best of the best and have a naturally diverse workforce. So at United we can do — and the proof is in the results. We are performing better coming out of the COVID for the last few years than any other airline in the world. And our workforce having a diverse but also very best people is a huge part of the reason why we are the best airline in the world.”
(bolding mine)
Kirby’s walking a very fine line. He is trying to cozy up to the new administration (United donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund and Kirby and his wife attended a candlelight dinner with the President last Sunday), which he views as pro-business and less likely to enforce or implement new consumer protections.
He wants Trump and incoming Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to focus on improving the gridlocked Air Traffic Control system. Kirby even praised Trump personally for his knowledge and focus on the issue:
“And when I talk to the President, he knows a lot about airplanes. He knows a lot about the airspace. He is focused even at his level on fixing it. Incoming Secretary Duffy, I spoke to this weekend, also focused on fixing it. And I think that they will do the basic blocking and tackling, get the FAA the right resources, the right technology to run effectively.”
> Read More: Senate Poised To Confirm Sean Duffy, Trump’s Pick For Secretary Of Transportation
At the same time, Kriby is not walking away from DEI…not at all. He points out that the question is never whether United is hiring an unqualified person, but rather which qualified person it should hire? Should skin color, orientation, or gender matter? Per Messr. Kirby, yes… because he believes that a more diverse workforce gives United a further comparative advantage in effectively catering to a very diverse nation and world. Kirby therefore argues diversity is good for the bottom line and that the question of merit is not relevant to DEI discussions since any new hire must be “merit qualified” to even be considered in the first place.
CONCLUSION
While federal DEI programs may be on the chopping block, don’t look for any change at United Airlines. While Kirby is quick to stress that United only hires based on merit, he stopped well short of abandoning the sort of DEI initiatives that have earned United scorn in the Trump camp.
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Hiring on merit AND DEI is a contradiction in terms, since DEI prioritizes race/sexual orientation/other victim status over merit.
DEI just means no straight white males, who are usually the most qualified.
@Chi … Your first sentence ( +1 ) is obviously a logical truism about the application of DEI .
Your second sentence . however , does not hold true in Hawaii . In Hawaii , the “white males” are a minority among the population . Filipino aircraft mechanics , for example , are excellent .
@Chi … Have some sympathy with the Ivy League graduates with a Bachelors in DEI Studies .
The Feds no longer have need for them to be on the taxpayer’s dime .
Have you ever been to a non-white majority country?
Correct, it is like saying Capitalism and Communism (collectivism) are compatible. They are not. You cannot base your decisions or merit be “colored” by DEI. This is how mediocrity sets in.
It’s quite amusing that many people continue to believe that any organisation or social system can be ‘meritocratic’. Kirby is convinced that his managers have an uncanny ability to select ‘the best’ by looking at a 2-page PDF and then undertaking whatever selection exercise. The reality is that people are a bit messier than that. It would be very easy to say ‘we want to give all of our candidates the opportunity to impress us with their diverse skills and abilities, and we are fortunate enough to be able to choose from an impressive pool of candidates’ before saying something along the lines of what you mentioned about diversity being good for the bottom line. Instead the insinuation is ‘if we didn’t hire you, it’s exclusively down to you because you’re not among the best’ (he did not even say ‘the best person for the job’, it’s some kind of intrinsic merit).
You obviously don’t have access to the photos of the New Hire Pilot classes, you’d quickly realize this is just DEI rhetoric.
Class breakdown is 99% white males aged 30-40.
A pilot forwards me those…you are quite right.
What is the profile of new hire pilot applicants with 1,500+ hours?
Doesn’t that prove that UA hires on merit? There just aren’t many minority pilots in the US.
How about establishing “blind recruitment”? You do most of the recruiting process without knowing the name, color, gender, weird pronouns, etc… until you select the best based purely on merit. You then have to interview them either via video or in person but at the time only the best of the best are participating in the process and then it is up to “trusting” companies will not favor someone because of their color, gender, etc… I have worked in organizations that tried to filter candidates by color and gender and that did not go well since the merit was missing and the people hired quit before being fired because they were not delivering at all.
Santastico-
In the “real world” of DEI, that is how it’s actually done (in institutions that know what they’re doing). Blind recruiting. The DEI portion is about increasing the applicant pool and expanding the numbers of those underrepresented populations who seek out the position. In some cases, it’s enhanced targeted recruiting, in others it’s targeting underrepresented populations to seek out the prerequisites and consider the field in the first place.
Unfortunately, these issue have become a punching bag for those ignorant of best practices (both critics as well as those who implement this poorly). When done well there is no contradiction between DEI and meritocracy, unlike what some ignorant fools wish to believe and spread.
“Blind recruiting. The DEI portion is about increasing the applicant pool and expanding the numbers of those underrepresented populations who seek out the position.”
No…DEI is based on the number of diversity candidates EMPLOYED, not just considered for employment.
And that’s why companies, like Boeing, are disbanding their DEI programs.
Andrew-
Try quoting my entire sentence, not just the part that supports your assertion.
Again- when done correctly, you are increasing applicant pools. You can have targets for underrepresented backgrounds, used as a guide to address whether your efforts are successful or need be expanded. When done correctly, these targets for increasing underrepresented numbers are not the actual “outcome at all costs” but rather how you gauge success of your efforts. Subtle distinction, but important nevertheless.
Not that I claimed every company is doing this well and to standard…
But of course, I assume you work at management of Boeing or in their HR and can provide copy of policy that supports what you have said.
So you are saying that non-White males are unqualified to work?
Also which organizations are you referring to?
Where did I say that? I said that among the pool of applicants, the hiring manager favored two minority candidates that were not qualified for the job but I heard from the hiring manager that “we need diversity in our department” so she made the decision to focus on diversity vs merit. Two really nice people were hired but within 6 months they both quitted because they literally had no clue what they were doing there. Second example, was very similar but in a different organization and different skills needed. And no, I am not sharing the name of the organizations on a public blog.
“I have worked in organizations that tried to filter candidates by color and gender and that did not go well since the merit was missing”
You never mentioned anything about 2 candidates.
If you support dei you are admitting white males are better.
That is such an idiotic and untrue comment.
Na it’s the reality.
Only on Bizarro world.
Criminal Trump does seem to be determined to break the social order and turn Trumpitaina into a place no one will want to visit let alone live in. It’s just as well none of us here want to cross the Great British and Canadian Ocean to get there because as predicted and obvious to all, he’s utterly mad.
Still, you only now have three years and three hundred and sixty two days to enjoy buyers remorse.
Given trump was reelected the buys remorse was people who voted for the failed Democrat party.
People want what Trump is selling because it’s objectively better.
Is it really?
It’s obviously time to roll back and bring you under direct rule from London, you clearly have failed bigly to govern yourselves across the water. We’re renaming your land mass South Canada.
Wow, the ONLY thing worse than Biden is London in particular.. wow, you really want America to suck.
I wish Kirby would quit sucking up to Trump. He clearly disagrees with him. “He knows a lot about airplanes.” Give me a break!
I respect that he basically said he’s not abandoning DEI, I just wish he wasn’t so afraid of Trump. Trump will be gone in 4 years; Kirby won’t. UA isn’t entrusting a 787 to someone not qualified to fly it.
Kirby has literacy problems . In the second sentence of Kirby’s statement , he misuses the word “impact” . He ought to have used the word “effect” .
Na, Kirby agrees with Trump as do most rational people.
The fear is from the woke mob.
Dei hires are dangerous. The almost destroyed 767 is proof of this.
That isn’t true at all.
I have no problem if my pilot is a dike who eats p#ssy because she’s so ugly no dude would F her. And no problem if the pilot is a black guy with a huge c#ck overweight white women with daddy issues are hooked on. Or even a towel head praising Allah, IF they were the best candidate for the job.
The problem is when they are my pilot because they got special consideration over some normal white guy with 2 white kids who was the better candidate.
What about if they all qualified but the white guy scored higher? Who should get the job? Of course the white guy. Or the black guy if he scored higher. It’s not that hard. Imagine if your favorite sports team operated this way.
Does this happen? Since DEI is based off it, yea I think it happens.
@Dave … Of course it is what happens . Bakke took his medical school rejection into the courts for that very reason .
The Dems do racial preferences in order to re-district and gerrymander voting districts .
Projection much?
Your comment is a text book example of how a finger-pointer’s finger-pointing at others typically has three fingers pointing back at the finer-pointer.
The majority of efforts at gerrymandering in the last 40+ years across the country have been done to dilute the relevance of ethnic minority voters and contain Democrats. It shows most profoundly when the state legislature and US House delegation from a state remain consistently in the hands of one political party while the statewide office results go back and forth across party lines.
I have a problem if my pilot looks and talks like you. I don’t want unhinged, angry, hateful, loose cannon pilots.
He is a vile, hateful person for sure.
Trump is all about DEI for TV airheads. Talk about giving new meaning to the A in DEIA. 😉
It’s DEIA.
I’m reminded of Bud Light and Gillette’s progressive ad campaigns that severely hurt their bottom line but they pushed through it because they were committed to that agenda.
Who says that businesses only care about profits?
United and other companies that stick to DEI face lawsuits in that the 1964 Civil Rights Act specifically makes it illegal to consider race or gender in hiring decisions and LBJ’s EO 11246 created this conflict. “Diversity” is a justification for Affirmative Action, but it’s still hiring based upon race/gender.
So where I’m leading with all this is to observe that without EO 11246, DEI is legally race/gender discrimination and these companies are setting themselves up for massive lawsuits in the future. In the old days, someone might send out a paper resume to a dozen places in a job search but today, they send out thousands electronically. If or WHEN a company’s DEI was found to discriminate against a race for a “diversity” goal, a class action lawsuit by thousands will kick in.
Lawyers are going to make a lot of money from this…
So the Party which hates the litigation bar and class action lawsuits and has long called for “tort reform” are now going to be gung-ho about lawsuits to transfer wealth from wealthy corporations and their shareholders to “disadvantaged European-Americans” and token Asians?
The Trump clown is engaged in all these attention-sucking big bang smoke and mirror changes to distract America from Trump’s oligarch-enriching agenda being undertaken at the expense of the vast majority of Americans regardless of ethnic background.
Its called justice
Maybe you should look up the meaning.
Is this the new group think the hate America left is going to go with? The oligarchy/billionaire boogeyman?
I am the from the school of loving America requires opposing MAWA/MAGA trying to make the US in Russia’s image.
Your school of thought is closer to the Frankfurt school and incompatible with real America aka Maga.
Also it’s pretty racist to call Asians token when dei and affirmative action have harmed them the most.
MAWA (Make America Whiter Again) AndyS as the defender of Asian-Americans? Talk about Orwellian talk, as AndyS is no great defender of opportunities for Asian-Americans with the hating on the African-American led civil rights movement and LBJ-delivered DEIA thinking which opened the business and employment doors for America’s women and ethnic minorities of all sorts.
DEIA in America showed the world that pushing against white supremacy and misogyny is simply good business and makes the country greater and more powerful. You know who else hates pro-DEIA thinking? Putin, and it’s part and parcel of why Russia is a has-been and will remain so with its critical mass of white supremacist types.
DEI only harmed this country.
As Clarence Thomas said, dei puts people in positions to fail since it’s lower their standards.
Dei is white supremacy as its entire concept is based on the assumption that nonwhites can’t compete with whites because lefties and progressives believe they are of lower intelligence.
As always lefties are the real racists. History shows is this,
Putin is more rational than American or European lefty. Its why he as so easily manipulated them. Lefties are emotional creatures whos entire world view is based on grievance politics and emotions.
In the long list of asinine comments you have made, this one certainly tops most of them.
DEI was “diversity, equity, inclusion” which actually meant, “didn’t earn it” but is now “Donald Ended It” Good riddance.
DEI remains DEIA.
The USA does better without MAWA (racism). The US became such a great country because of DEIA. Now the country gets affirmative action for Fox News Airheads and the rich, and this has already made the US look like a laughing stock around the world given the cast of clowns with the Trump Administration. No wonder so many people cracked up laughing and rolled their eyes when Trump was ranting on his video speech to the World Economic Forum attendees at Davos.
Trump wants to act like Putin, and Putin ought to be laughing that Trump is making America in Russia’s image even without a Russian occupation of America.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination. PERIOD. This would also include whites, Latino, Inuit, Asian, etc.! So, Mr. Biden specifically said that he would place a woman of color as his vice president (what about the Civil Rights Act Mr. Biden?). He specifically said that he would place a woman of color on the United States Supreme Court. (what about the Civil Rights Act Mr. Biden?). So, in short, President Biden’s DEI initiatives seem to be in direct conflict with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. One should care about credentials…is the person BEST QUALIFIED for the position? That is a yes or no answer. “Oh, the applicant is black.” So? “The applicant is transgender.” So what? What does any of those comments have to do with their qualifications? NADA..NOTHING..BUPKIS…ZIP.
Trump has put a block to the Attorney General’s Honors Program. It’s a program from the 1950s for the DOJ to recruit from the best law schools in the country. The Trump Admin isn’t into meritocracy, it’s into the opposite: low quality hires who are controllable sycophants willing to commit crimes for the Mafia Don running the government.
Kirby’s answer is perfect and it is EXACTLY what DEI is anyways. A company that hires with a quota is just stupid and I don’t think SUCCESSFUL companies are stupid.