United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told employees during the pandemic that government support during a crisis is inevitable. But maintaining key relationships among policymakers is a pricey endeavor, as the latest quarterly lobbying spending for United demonstrates.
United Airlines Has Spent Over $4.5 Million Lobbying In 2023, Leading All US Airlines
As noted by Open Secrets, airline lobbying has soared in the first half of 2023. To date, airlines have spent $17.4 million lobbying federal officials this year, up over 25% from 2022.
United Airlines has led the way among US airlines and trade groups, spending $980,000 in the first quarter and a whopping $3.6 million in the second quarter. United even outspent Airlines for America, the lobbying arm of the US airline industry. Additionally, United has added more lobbyists to staff, with a total of 31 now on the payroll (up from 28 last year).
While a breakdown of spending is not disclosed, United is involved in many endeavors that require the support or acquiescence of the federal government, including both lawmakers and regulators:
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill
- Air Traffic Control ATC) upgrades
- Biofuels and clean energy subsidies
- Electric aircraft subsidies
- Opposition to the scaling back of the perimeter rule at Washington National Airport (DCA)
- Slot acquisitions at New York Kennedy (JFK)
- New York City airspace congestion impacting Newark (EWR) hub
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives favored by the current administration
The airline industry is hardly unique in spending millions of dollars in lobbying government officials, but it does help to explain why Kirby so confidently boasted to employees:
“We need to be a the top of the industry in terms of profitability. That matters for obvious reasons, but it also matters because in a crisis, if the crisis is bad enough, history has shown us that national governments all around the world will support their airlines and make sure they can fly through and be there on the other side of the crisis. The reason is because we’re a critical part of the infrastructure and they have to have us. They need us there on the other side.
“But what might happen is there are times that governments will let two or three airlines fail if there’s a crisis because they don’t think they’re going to need all the airlines. So it’s important – it’s the old bear analogy, you want to be faster than the other guy – to be at the front of the industry so that again you just have more runway, more ability to deal with the longer-term crises when they happen.”
Key there is an assumption that future bailouts will be a given, but potentially only for the strong. That provides yet another reason United has so aggressively sought to refresh and expand its fleet.
CONCLUSION
United Airlines spent over $4.5 million on lobbying during the first half of the year, outpacing all its rivals and even the lobbying group that represents its interests. But this is no surprise considering the tight-knit relationship between US airlines and the federal government as displayed by a steady stream of taxpayer bailouts offered during the pandemic with few strings attached. United sees these expenditures as money well spent.
> Read More: United Airlines CEO Banking On Future Government Bailouts, But Only For The Strong
“Lobbying” now you know why UD airline passengers have no protection s line EU261.
United just lost a 767 in Houston because of DEI.
You’re a total cuck, “Chad”
Oh the irony. The ME3 is owned by the government and the US3 owns the government.
The US can no longer preach the world the principles what it stands for and fights for since after WWII. The three branches of governments are corrupted to the core by the injections of tens of millions of dollars from domestic and foreign donors without disclosure. We are now witnessing state governments take away authority, power, and finances of local governments while the judicial and legislative branches are battling over who will regulate who and who has the final say in national policies, rules and regulations. The judicial branch already defied the legislative branch’s invitation to appear in Congress.
Well (and accurately) said, Globetrotter..
Congress is pretty much a money laundering outfit.
Well, United hired a dc swamp guy to run their comms so it’s hardly a surprise that all he knows to do is pay for others to lobby for him.
Par for the course about the dc mentality regardless of which party he comes from.
So many American companies still doing business in Russia. Wonder why you don’t ask for those companies to be punished. https://leave-russia.org/staying-companies