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Scott Kirby
Scott Kirby UAL
Chief Executive Officer & Director, United Airlines Holdings Inc
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You @ United - United CEO Scott Kirby - Office Hours: Business Edition - Haslam College of Business

📅 Sep 30, 2026 Office Hours: Business Edition 16 MIN 20075 VIEWS 57 SEGMENTS · 2 SPEAKERS
Monica Langley is at United's flight training center in Denver to talk business with CEO Scott Kirby. They discuss United's history museum, beside the memorial to the employees lost on 9/11, then get into Kirby's competitive streak, merger talk, and his case that Chicago should be the biggest hub in the world. Kirby explains why his main job is making employees proud, why he wouldn't buy a foreign flag airline, what United borrows from Apple, and why he wants people to think United is cool. Chapters 0:00 Intro and Welcome from Denver 0:31 A Century of United History and the 9/11 Memorial 1:2...

What Scott Kirby said

Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.

Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, discussed his ambition to build the best airline in history, emphasizing employee pride as the core driver of customer service. He confirmed a proposed merger with American Airlines but neither confirmed nor denied talks with Delta. Kirby detailed American's financial losses in Chicago, projecting $1.5-2 billion in annual losses, and argued United's market share advantage there has grown from a 4-point deficit to a 15-point lead. He outlined a vision for Chicago to become the world's biggest hub with 1,000 daily flights and 15 additional international destinations. Kirby dismissed acquiring foreign flag airlines, citing their government ties and poor profitability. He admires Apple for design simplicity and supply chain management, and counts Jamie Dimon, Jim Burke, and Bob Jordan as CEO friends. He highlighted United's growth, including ten new international destinations announced in one day, and the ESPN fantasy football draft broadcast using Starlink Wi-Fi.

Key takeaways

  1. United is the biggest airline in the world, with a history going back to 1926.
  2. American Airlines is projected to lose $1.5-2 billion in Chicago this year, and economic gravity will force change.
  3. United's market share advantage over American in Chicago is now 15 points, up from a 4-point deficit ten years ago.
  4. Kirby envisions 1,000 daily flights in Chicago with 15 additional international destinations, making it the world's number one airport.
  5. Kirby confirmed a proposed merger with American Airlines but neither confirmed nor denied talks with Delta.

Numbers and commitments

FigureWhat it refers toTypeAt
$1.1 billion American Airlines' losses in Chicago over the last 12 months through Q1 metric 4:24
$1.5-2 billion Projected annual losses for American Airlines in Chicago guidance 4:39
15 points United's market share advantage over American in Chicago metric 4:59
4 points American's market share advantage over United in Chicago ten years ago metric 4:59
1,000 flights a day Vision for daily flights in Chicago commitment 5:36
15 international destinations Additional international destinations envisioned for Chicago commitment 5:36
20% Average increase in seats per departure for United's airplanes in Chicago metric 5:36
10 new international destinations New international destinations announced in a single day last week commitment 3:31
8.5 hours Hours Kirby sleeps per night other 13:52

Chapters

  1. 0:00United's history and memorial
  2. 1:27Ambition and M&A strategy
  3. 3:22Growth and expansion focus
  4. 4:13Chicago hub vision and American's losses
  5. 7:13Employee pride and service
  6. 10:16Foreign flag airlines
  7. 11:14Admired companies and CEO friends
  8. 13:44Calm demeanor and stress
  9. 14:42ESPN deal and Starlink

Questions asked in this interview

11
  1. 0:31But first give us the scene. Where are we?
  2. 1:27Are you dead set on global domination?
  3. 2:04So my question is, how ambitious are you, Scott Kirby?
  4. 3:07Did this start with childhood sports or what?
  5. 3:22So what is your focus for expansion?
  6. 4:34And they've acknowledged that or no?
  7. 7:13Could you buy a foreign flag airline?
  8. 8:22Should a flight attendant — if I, weakling little person that I am, want help to put my bag in the overhead, should a flight attendant help me?
  9. 10:16Well, also, what about a foreign flag airline?
  10. 11:14So are there other companies that you admire?
  11. 12:31Do you have a bestie CEO?
Scott Kirby 0:00 ↗
You create an airline that the employees are proud of, and they want to help you to take care of you.
Monica Langley 0:09 ↗
Hi, I'm Monica Langley with Office Hours: Business Edition. I'm here today with Scott Kirby, the United Airlines CEO, and we are in a really cool place. We're in Denver at their flight training center. So let's talk. Scott, this time, let's talk about United Business.
Scott Kirby 0:30 ↗
Okay. Okay.
Monica Langley 0:31 ↗
But first give us the scene. Where are we?
Scott Kirby 0:33 ↗
So we're in a museum to the history of United. And there's a lot of cool stuff like over here on this board, like all the airlines that became part of United Airlines. We're the biggest airline in the world now. But a storied history that goes back a hundred years. Wow. To Pacific Air Transport, I guess the first one up there from 1926. But lots of our history here. Lots of cool stuff, but also a solemn place, you know, on the wall behind us, you know, as a monument to the four pilots we lost on 9/11. There's a memorial going up that's going to be dedicated at the 25th anniversary, right out here to the 18 employees that we lost. So a celebratory place, but also a solemn place to remember what happened to us 25 years ago to United Airlines and to the country.
Monica Langley 1:20 ↗
Okay, that makes it special. Thank you for letting us here.
Scott Kirby 1:26 ↗
Okay.
Monica Langley 1:27 ↗
Are you dead set on global domination?
Scott Kirby 1:30 ↗
Oh, that's not a word I use. I'm dead set on being the best airline in the history of aviation. Our people are delivering and going even beyond that, and being a great consumer brand around the globe that customers love, that they want to be affiliated with. Really just being a great company.
Monica Langley 1:46 ↗
However, your recent moves show you're willing to take big swings to dominate. Sorry, maybe not your word, but I think that's pretty clear. You proposed mega deals with American and Delta.
Scott Kirby 2:00 ↗
I've only acknowledged one of those two, which was American. Yes.
Monica Langley 2:04 ↗
I saw your press release about why you went for American, and it wasn't a struggling airline. You wanted to have two great airlines combined. But you also went for Delta. So my question is, how ambitious are you, Scott Kirby?
Scott Kirby 2:18 ↗
Well, first, I say I did not ever publicly acknowledge talking about a Delta merger. Okay. But I want to build. A better telling me I'm wrong. I'm not saying one thing either way, I'm confirming nor denying. Okay. But I want to build the best airline in history. I want to win. I want our people to win. I want to be on the winning team. Like, I don't know why. Everything in life, I want to be the best. I'm not always the best. Like, I'm not a very good golfer. I try — wish I was better. But I still always want to be the best. And you always strive to be. I'm never satisfied. And like, if I'm ever satisfied, like, what's the point of life? Like, there's always something new to achieve. Always something new to do. And it just, like, comes out of your body.
Monica Langley 3:03 ↗
It's so clear. You're very competitive.
Scott Kirby 3:05 ↗
I am competitive.
Monica Langley 3:07 ↗
Did this start with childhood sports or what?
Scott Kirby 3:10 ↗
Not just in sports. I like — I wanted to win everything. Your whole life. My whole life, I don't ever like. But also like, I don't know, like what's — you know, what's the point if you don't want to be the best?
Monica Langley 3:22 ↗
But you clearly want to expand. Okay. You've been shut down on M&A. So what is your focus for expansion?
Scott Kirby 3:31 ↗
You know, so we're growing already faster than the airline industry has done. We're training more pilots here at this academy, hiring more than any airline has done, doing it year after year after year, doing more capital upgrades, more fleet transitions than anyone has ever done. But that's really just the starting point, the growth. And, you know, last week we announced ten new international destinations on a single day. No airline in history that I know of has ever done something like that. So we're growing, but that's just the foundation. The network, where we fly, is the foundation. And creating a great airline is about how our employees and our customers feel. And that is about technology, service, product and reliability. All that on top of where we fly.
Monica Langley 4:13 ↗
But nevertheless, you're not standing still. Clearly, we're not — the international expansion. You recently said that American should just leave Chicago's O'Hare airport.
Scott Kirby 4:24 ↗
Yeah, so that's not exactly what I said. But what I said was — so American this year, in the last 12 months through the first quarter, they've lost 1.1 billion in Chicago.
Monica Langley 4:34 ↗
And they've acknowledged that or no?
Scott Kirby 4:37 ↗
Well, they don't dispute it.
Monica Langley 4:38 ↗
Okay.
Scott Kirby 4:39 ↗
And the data is public. So yeah, that's the number. Okay, plus or minus 50 million. And that's before their growth and before fuel prices went up. And this year they're going to — when the full year is done, when all is said and done, they're going to lose between one and a half and two billion dollars. And like, you could do that for a while. But it's economic gravity, and economic gravity is ultimately going to win.
Monica Langley 4:58 ↗
Economic gravity. That's a good way to put it.
Scott Kirby 4:59 ↗
Well, yeah. And you know, like I'm not trying to make it — United has won market share everywhere we fly in Chicago. You know, American had a four-point market share advantage over United ten years ago. And our market share advantage with Chicago customers now is 15 points. Wow. So — and but by the way, we've had the same in Denver against a different airline, the same in San Francisco, different. It was not targeted. But you know, you just can't, as an airline, lose one and a half to two billion dollars forever.
Monica Langley 5:27 ↗
But that ambitious, competitive Scott Kirby sees the chance to have more gates, to have more of a big presence in Chicago.

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Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX
APA

Kirby, S. (2026, September 30). You @ United - United CEO Scott Kirby - Office Hours: Business Edition - Haslam College of Business [Interview transcript]. Office Hours: Business Edition. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3104933/

MLA

Scott Kirby. "You @ United - United CEO Scott Kirby - Office Hours: Business Edition - Haslam College of Business." Office Hours: Business Edition, 30 Sep. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3104933/.

BibTeX 
@misc{kirby2026_3104933,
  author       = {Scott Kirby},
  title        = {You @ United - United CEO Scott Kirby - Office Hours: Business Edition - Haslam College of Business},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, Office Hours: Business Edition. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {sep},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3104933/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}