United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby attended a “candlelight dinner” with President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on Sunday evening after United Airlines donated $1 million to Trump’s Inaugural Fund.
United Airlines CEO Attends Candlelight Dinner With President, Is Optimistic About The Future Of The Trump Administration
In an Instagram post, Kirby posted a picture at the dinner with his wife Kathleen along with the caption:
Kathleen and I were proud to attend this weekend’s Inaugural events in our Nation’s Capital.
I believe that the USA is the greatest country in history and a democracy unlike any other.
As the world’s largest airline, @united looks forward to working with the new administration.
I am optimistic about the future.
View this post on Instagram
How did Kirby get the invite to the dinner? It’s not that Kirby pals around with Trump like Musk, Bezos, or Zuckerberg. Instead, it appears United just bought a seat:
.@united CEO Scott Kirby will attend the VP's reception at the NGA on Saturday and the Candlelight Dinner Sunday but is not attending the now-indoor inauguration itself. United said today they are donating $1M to Trump inaugural fund
— David Shepardson (@davidshepardson) January 17, 2025
That donation brought with it all sorts of benefits:
(Delta Air Lines also donated $1 million to the Trump inauguration)
I’m not here to condemn his attendance or point out the irony of spending $1 million on a party of oligarchs while flight attendants wait for a new contract. Because I understand that it makes good sense to kiss the ring of narcissists. It also makes sense to embrace an administration that claims to be pro-business in hopes of accelerating long-delayed upgrades to the country’s antiquated Air Traffic Control system and chronic understaffing.
Kirby doubtlessly shares the hope of Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan that the new Department of Transportation in the Trump era will be “perhaps a little less aggressive in terms of regulating or rule-making.” And Kirby also knows that his flight attendants waited too long to strike a new deal and now stand at a strategic disadvantage in an administration whose National Mediation Board (NMB) is unlikely to release flight attendants to strike.
All partisanship aside, it makes sense for any US airline to cozy up to the Administration in power. Kirby would doubtless be at the Harris Inauguration had the election turned out differently. Airline CEOs are politicians too and that is what airline CEOs do. His presence at the festivities is no surprise.
image: @scottkirby / Instagram
“Kiss the ring of narcissists”
I’m assuming that you mean Trump. Are we getting butt hurt over our new president already Matthew?
I pray for the POTUS and wish him great success in taming inflation and the budget, ending wars with honor, and investing in American technology. I hope we do enter a new golden age…
But yes, he’s a narcissist if there ever was one.
He’s got a massive ego to be sure but narcissists by definition are selfish and unable to feel empathy for others, which is clearly not Trump.
@Chi … +1 . Correct , he is not a narcissist . Rather , he is a showman . Politicians and salesmen are all showmen .
The key to Trump’s election is that the majority of Americans were fed up with the Dem’s lies and sabotage of the nation , ( to put it mildly ) .
I’m curious, do you people believe any of your lies, or do you just lie because it gets you off?
And I don’t get what you get out of Trump…..he does absolutely nothing for you. Are you really that intimidated by the handful of trans people in this country? Why are you so scared of an immigrant? I just don’t get all the cowardice and then you idolize people like Trump and Musk? Are you kidding me?
You all are the biggest bunch of ^ussies…
Trump is a disgrace of a human
@Terry … He is 78 years old , apparently in good health , and demonstrated stamina after being wounded . He is surrounded by healthy women , and they seem to like him . He doesn’t take the salary . Give him a break .
Only to subhumans like yourself
You really like to show the world how ignorant and stupid you really are don’t you? I guess you think it makes you look interesting? But it doesn’t….it makes you look like the idiot that you are clearly are.
Trump is the definition of a narcissist. He is incapable of showing empathy, and all his actions and speech focus on his own self interests and self. His need for attention is even greater than your need to show us how ignorant you are.
Your anger turns me on
Thanks. I spit out my coffee but I needed the laugh. You have a bright future in satire.
Have you considered he wanted the rare experience of the inauguration? Some people have more money than they know what to do with.
Which is fine. I would have gone too…but the $1 mn donation strikes me as at least conflicting.
@Matthew … No money came out of Kirby’s own pocket . He is spending the company’s dime .
Exactly.
You pray to an invisible god that a convicted felon & rapist who sells autographed bibles will do a good job running this country? LOL.
Yes. As William Cowper once penned, “God moves in mysterious ways…”
@Matthew — Well, you should be here to condemn. Trump and the convicts he pardoned yesterday are treasonists, who should be punished as they are required under the law. Anyone supporting these people is the equivalent of a Nazi.
Oh, don’t mistake my comment above with support for him or his administration beyond a general hope for the good of the nation. I also condemn those pardons.
Well it’s done. The hostages are freed. We won. Suck on that loser.
@Chi … Unfortunately , not all of the hostages are freed . Merely the first three .
During the first 96 years of Arab invasions , they were all sort of military . Now , the Hamasians have descended to taking hostages . If Israel fully prepares , they will avoid living so close to a border with savages , and prepare better defences .
Hi Alert, I meant the hostages being held by the US government for the Jan. 6 protests
You misspelled ‘convicted criminals’ as h o s a g e s.
@ Chi Hsuan — It is very sad that you think you’ve won something by watching violent treasonists be set free and not held accountable for their illegal actions. The losers here are the American public, who should expect their leaders to protect them from criminals that try to overthrow the government.
Blah Blah Blah
I’ve heard that garbage for the past four years. They’re not criminals, they didn’t try to overthrow the government, and you sir are a liar.
Now this injustice has been fixed and they being released. Knowing how much that annoys people like you is very satisfying.
@ Chi Hsuan — You must be blind or severely mentally impaired. I’ll go with the latter.
@Chi … Yep . The really violent ones were the BLM protests , which attacked police and businesses .
@Gene: what are your thoughts about Biden preemptively pardoning his entire family a few minutes before he left office. Does he know something we don’t about them? Just wondering.
No, he knows that Trump will lie about anything and use the government’s lawyers to bankrupt the innocent. Trump is evil.
LOL!!! OK, keep living in your own bubble. The Eastern bunny is coming soon.
Grow up, man. You sound like a three-year old brat.
@Gene: Me grow up? I endured your choice of a Demented president for 4 years. Now you are already whining on Day 1. Who is the 3 year old brat here?
You know what the best part is? They thought that Trump was finished. They thought he was just a one-off that they could forget about. They got their dementia patient in office for four years and thought they could install that moron VP of his for another four, or eight.
But now Trump is back and better than ever. It’s sooooooooo funny.
There really is nothing funnier than bad trash talk that is misspelled. But hey @Santistico, great job trying but failing
@Julie: There are 1,459 days until Trump leaves office. I hoe you enjoy every single one of these days.
Hey Santa,
I’ll enjoy whatever I want. You’re the dyslexic loser out on an aviation blog that seems to bask in the glaring light of your own inability to check what he writes. And… also won’t shut up about being a Trump apologist and trying to troll on the topic to people you don’t know to make yourself look cool (heads up. No one thinks you’re cool by showing a Fox News-level knowledge of trump 😉 ). I could care less what you enjoy or how many days are left in his administration.
But again, super great job with a very lame comeback if you were going for a lame comeback. If you weren’t trying to be lame, you should probably just realize people think you are when you assume other’s political beliefs because it works in well with your bad trolling.
Could care less how many days. Just find you to be a POS troller.
@Julie: I will pray for you.
#blessed
I love how you’re going to ‘pray’ for us. What kind of Christian supports a convicted felon, sex offender, who on their first day in office chose to reinstate an order to separate children from their parents? And who just pardoned over 1,500 violent insurrectionists who tried to over throw the US government? Is that what they taught you in Sunday school?
You can call yourself whatever you like, but your actions speak much louder than your empty words and you are about as far away from being a Christian as one can be.
And how is Biden demented? Biden accomplished more during his 4 years in office than any president has since FDR.
Your little ‘White (or wish their were white) Christian bubble’ may not like it, but Biden saved the USA from mess left by the Trump Administration. The COVID-19 pandemic is finally under control, inflation is down, GDP is up, unemployment is low, the stock market is at record highs, Federal spending is finally decreasing following the Trillions of dollars of deficit spending done by the last Trump administration.
Biden was not perfect, but definitely not ‘demented’.
I find it so fascinating at how many men idolize such a truly horrible human being who has done absolutely nothing that would help you. But you people just love the abuse….it is truly fascinating to watch how sick you people truly are.
As with the first Trump administration I am telling you now Trump’s second term will not end well either. And you people have no one to blame but yourselves.
No YOU SHOULD be.
Trump gave justice to victims of a political hunt. These were political prisoners and should be given restitution.
@Gene people like you are the enemy and the federal government is starting to notice.
@ AndyS — You’re a moron, and everyone noticed long ago.
Blm is a terrorist group, j6 patriots are heros and you are a low IQ moron. Do us all a favor and get brain cancer.
Supporting the office out of respect for it and having hope for positive progress in one’s country and industry isn’t partisan and one can wish well based on those factors regardless of who occupies it. And yes, United would have (and should have) been there regardless of who won.
@Neds … It ought not be partisan . However , the Dem’s embrace of “climate change regression” has clearly been destructive to the country and industry .
There is nothing funny about having someone who tried to overthrow the US government become its President. You are a disgusting person. Perhaps, if we are lucky, you’ll be returned to your country of origin by the idiot.
Biden stole the election.
The patriots on j6 were trying to fix that.
J6 is the American Bastille Day.
My goodness, as if anyone needed another reason not to fly Untied, Kirby cosying up with Criminal Trump just provides it.
Another spineless, amoral CEO. Sad!!!
How do you go from operating at the vanguard of wokedom to this?!
“Say what you will about the tenets of national socialism. At least it’s an ethos!”
This man has no ethos and should not be embraced by any side of the political spectrum. Just a shape-shifter.
Kirby moves according to the wind.
@Santastico … +1 . And on the company’s dime .
Forgiveness for criminals, annex Panama, Greenland and Canada, change the name of the Gulf of Mexico, sig heil from Elon.
Long live to the fuhrer!
How terrible the decline of the USA…
China is really grateful!
Good leads the way!!
Can we get back to something we all agree on like laughing at men who take c#cks in their #ss and mouth?
And if anyone wants to argue it, we all understand NO father hopes his son grows up to be a bone smuggler. And saying “they still love them” is possibly true but no different than Manson’s parents saying the same. You can love the child but not condone their life choices.
Where’s Aaron?
@Dave Edwards,: Would you please just die, you homophobic, hateful, bigoted piece of shyte. It is truly a shame that the better part of you dripped down your mother’s leg. I only hope that when you are laying on your deathbed in miserable pain and agony that the only doctors and nurses that are available are the “bone-smugglers” you so blindly hate, and that each refuses any palliative measures at all and cut off your morphine.
Hey Dave, I cant be sure but I think Neal Z is upset with you. Maybe he is himself a bone smuggler?
They always go to wishing someone dead when they are losing a debate, it’s all they have.
I could stoop to their level and hope he slips and falls in a puddle of AIDS but I won’t go that low.
@Dave Edwards and Chi Hsuan, if you are asking whether or not I am gay, the answer is yes, and I strongly suspect that you both are as well. In my experience, latent and closeted homosexuals tend to be the most vitriolic in their homophobia, but given the private opportunity to get down on their knees in front of a nice schlong, they can suck the chrome off a ’57 Chevy. Let me know when you guys are ready for 8 inches of fun.
Matthew,
Surely this post is an easy place to draw the line in your comment section?
Nothing to do with the topic or article and just some random troll insecure in his own homosexual leanings just strangely yelling into the wind about how much he hates gays?
Seems like an easy post to delete but you don’t. Any reason why? You’ve commented on other posts after this was written. Wtf?
@MaxPower: I feel bad for Dave Edwards. I think he is so deeply in the closet he doesn’t know it and his expressed hatred for LGB people is a sign of that. I deleted several even more egregious comments from this post, but I left this because it shows the country we are facing in 2025 and because I hope that over time, Dave Edwards will come to realize that his words are counterproductive and frankly vile.
Fair enough. I appreciate your time in responding.
Got a blog and want clicks? Post something that affects none of your readers and throw in something snarky about Trump. Click, click, click. Works every time. Ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching.
This is quite relevant to the nexus of law and aviation and politics, the subject matters I enjoy most on this blog.
And, it’s your blog. That means you get to post whatever you want. And if someone doesn’t like it, they are free to take their eyes elsewhere
“a democracy unlike any other”
That’s not true. I think we have to look no further than the democracies of central America to see how “pay-to-play” works with politicians. The funny thing is people like Bukele have probably improved the situation, while Trump does it unabashedly.
I understand what Kirby is doing, but I don’t know how you could respect him as a person of integrity. He stood up to Trump in the past, but now he’s decided kissing his ring is good for business so he’ll do it. That is the truly the opposite of integrity.
I don’t disagree, but I think Kirby is a Republican (and a fairly conservative one at that) and has great regret for his absolutely reckless vaccine mandate during the pandemic. And I think he feared the consumer protection provisions of PB’s DOT and is relieved there will now be a feckless figurehead running DOT. So in that sense, Trump is more his cup of tea than Harris.
According to public records, Kirby has personally donated less than $10K to politicians, and it is fairly equal across the 2 major parties. His last donation was in 2020, and that was to a long-shot democratic candidate for President, Steve Bullock, the moderate former governor of Montana
Trump is a vulgar, despicable, narcissistic, egomaniacal, racist, bigoted, misogynistic, amoral shred of human debris. But he is also (unfortunately) President of the United States, and unlike the Republiclowns and assorted Trumpanzees who refuse to even acknowledge that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, we need to be better than that. And since airlines are so heavily regulated, and since Trump has proven himself to be a petulant child who goes out of his way – often in illegal ways – to retaliate against those who fail to lay prostrate and kiss the ring, Kirby’s decision makes sense.
Like Matt, I too will pray for Trump. But my prayer is more likely to be that he choke on one of his daily Big Macs or that Melania finally reads her copy of Arsenic and Old Lace
[deleted]
Come on now, Dave. We’re not going there. -Matthew
No censorship! I want to see what he wrote.
We don’t with death or disease on other readers. Keep it civil. Focus on the issues, not the people.
Shame, I bet it was really funny too.
@ChiFuckwad, apparently your fellow closeted homosexual Dave wrote his swill twice, and Matt only deleted it once, so if you scroll through his screed, you’ll see the bile that came out of his cock-stuffed pie-hole
Why are you so angry? Got the orange man blues? Cheer up, get your prep and go on Grindr and have come random guy relieve your misery for a while. Don’t get syphilis though.
Your misery is joy to me.
Kirby is really short.
That explains a lot.
Alert,I agree with your comments.. I an happy to see that United and Delta did something for the right side-conservatives for a change..
The oligarchy is in overt power. You will be distracted with nonsense about immigrants and trans people while Musk Melon whos father groomed a young girl who was his step daughter to be his wife will be praised by a lot of commenters here.
Musk did a freaking Nazi salute, but the Trump suckers will go “Roman hur de hur”.
Elon is great. I love him more and more everyday.
You lost.
People like you start to try and leave. Things are going to get hard for you as they should.
As the saying goes, Trump may be Satan. But at least he’s our Satan. I’ll take it over senile Joe any day of the week.
The democrats called Trump Hitler, a fascist, racist, criminal, impeached him twice and on and on. Still, they got their asses handed to them in the fall election. How pathetic must they be if he’s that bad and they don’t even come close to beating him. And they can’t even lean on the popular vote argument. Self awareness is not a strength of theirs.
Scott submitting in advance. Sell out? Why not? It appears all these types are. Hope it helps them sleep well at night.
Grifters going to grift. Birds of a feather. Etc. etc.
Everyday it becomes more and more clear that we do indeed get the government that we deserve.
If you had given $1,000,000 of his own money and not as a representative of United Airlines that’s one thing. But to use corporate monies is another. Did he have approval from the BOD for that expense?
Gross.