Michael Leskinen

Executive VP & CFO, United Airlines Holdings

Search every verified Michael Leskinen interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Michael Leskinen, President of United Airlines Ventures and Executive VP & CFO of United Airlines Holdings, spoke at an Archer Aviation open house in December 2022 about the airline's partnership with the eVTOL aircraft developer. Leskinen described the airline industry as having been "commoditized" since deregulation, with low margins and high capital intensity, and said United's venture capital operation, launched publicly about three years prior, aims to drive innovation into the industry. He stated that the partnership with Archer was a key part of that effort. Leskinen discussed plans for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft operations, saying the first routes would likely launch from Newark, with a goal of eventually having "10, 20, 50 vertaports" within New York City. He emphasized that the service's utility depends on seamless integration, including walking access to vertaports and coordinated security screening. Leskinen said the economics of the eVTOL flights would start at an "Uber Black level" but could become more like "UberX" as scale increases. He noted that Mesa Airlines was announced as a potential operator, but added that Archer would likely operate the early aircraft. Leskinen also played a recorded message from United CEO Scott Kirby congratulating Archer on the launch of its Midnight aircraft.