United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby discusses the company’s ability to pass along higher fuel costs and seeing continued strength in customer demand. Kirby also shares his thoughts on a wealth tax and other US social and policy points on “Bloomberg Surveillance.”
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What Scott Kirby said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said the airline remains 'solidly profitable' despite fuel costs rising by $8 billion this year, with about 72% of the increase passed on to customers. He noted that while full-year 100% offset is unlikely in the fourth quarter due to the rapid fuel run-up, booking yields are up 20-plus percent recently and a three-month lag could allow a return to 100% offset by the first quarter. Consumer demand remains resilient, with load factors down only half a point. Kirby emphasized investments across the cabin, including Starlink, and said economy cabin growth has outpaced premium in the last two quarters. He clarified that his comments on wealth inequality were a personal opinion, not policy advocacy, and denied supporting a specific wealth tax. He responded to criticism from Louisiana's governor and Glenn Beck, saying he won't change his stance and defended expressing nonconsensus opinions.
Key takeaways
Fuel costs rose $8 billion this year, with 72% passed on to customers; United remains solidly profitable.
Booking yields are up 20-plus percent in the last couple of weeks, and 100% fuel cost offset may return in Q1 2027.
Kirby said he will not follow Elon Musk's example or redistribute his salary, dismissing criticism from Louisiana's governor.
0:00When you look at these results, and we can start with the numbers themselves, are you seeing signs that it's getting harder to pass on those high fuel costs to consumers?
0:56Do you still think that that's possible by year end?
1:47Are you starting to see any shift, though, as pricing goes up more significantly, especially given the fact that you do hear about consumers in certain pockets pulling back?
2:49I mean, how far can that go in terms of what we're seeing around this fear, which John says: are we peak premium?
4:03I was surprised to hear you advocate for a specific policy, though. Scott, what prompted that?
5:30Better yet,' he goes on to say, 'he should redistribute his salary to the employees at the bottom of the ladder.' Scott, I hope you take this in the spirit in which it's intended, but do you intend to do any of those things?
6:53Are you concerned, though, about pushback and some people saying that they're not going to fly United?
When you look at these results, and we can start with the numbers themselves, are you seeing signs that it's getting harder to pass on those high fuel costs to consumers?
Thanks for having me this morning. Great to come to you from our new terminal here in Houston. And it's pretty remarkable. I'm excited to be here talking to you today in a year where we have eight... you know, fuel price going up $8 billion. And you hit on the right point that prices have been going up. They're really bouncing off the COVID low. They, by the way, are still lower in real terms than they were pre-COVID. But they've come back this year. And we have been... we passed about 72% of the increase in fuel price, but I think it's a pretty remarkable demonstration of the industry changes, the resilience, and also decommoditizing air travel at United Airlines that while we're not earning as much in the second half as we did last year, and as much as we were expecting to this year because of the run-up in fuel, we're still solidly profitable. And it portends better times ahead when the situation does normalize, and eventually it will.
Scott, earlier this year you said that United could probably offset the increase in fuel costs that we were experiencing. Do you still think that that's possible by year end?
Yeah. Well, we're not going to get to 100% in 4Q, just because of the rapid run-up in fuel. What happens is when fuel goes up, pricing does go up, but it comes with a lag. And we're making bookings now into next year. And so on our last earnings call, booking yields were up something like 15 to 16%. The last couple of weeks, they're up 20-plus percent. But much of the travel has already been booked for 3Q. So we can't recapture 100% of a rapid run-up in fuel price in the short term. But if you look out with kind of a three-month lag, I think we're doing a pretty good job of getting to 100%. So if fuel doesn't run again, I think we've got a good shot in 1Q of getting back to that 100% level.
One thing, Scott, that you've talked repeatedly about is how resilient the consumer has been, and you and John were just talking about that a minute ago, that you continue to see people come in even with those higher prices. Are you starting to see any shift, though, as pricing goes up more significantly, especially given the fact that you do hear about consumers in certain pockets pulling back?
The short answer is not really. If so, it's very hard to see. I mean, our load factors were down half a point this quarter. So maybe you could say there's a little bit of elasticity there. But I think it goes back to really fares. While they're up a lot this year, they're bouncing off an artificial low from COVID. They just collapsed during COVID. And in real terms, they're still lower than they were pre-COVID. And we've been investing... costs have gone up across the board, but we've been investing in great value for customers. So certainly, United, having a great app, great seatback entertainment, now with Starlink coming on the airplane, a huge differentiator for customers. We're trying to give customers value, and we see that customers are reflecting that when they choose to fly United.
How much can premium keep offsetting any weakness everywhere else? I mean, how far can that go in terms of what we're seeing around this fear, which John says: are we peak premium? This question of how far can everybody be competing for this wealthier consumer all at once.
7 more exchanges in this transcript
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Kirby, S. (2026, October 21). United ‘Still Solidly Profitable’ as Fuels Costs Rise, CEO Kirby Says [Interview transcript]. Bloomberg Television. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3109474/
MLA
Scott Kirby. "United ‘Still Solidly Profitable’ as Fuels Costs Rise, CEO Kirby Says." Bloomberg Television, 21 Oct. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3109474/.
BibTeX
@misc{kirby2026_3109474,
author = {Scott Kirby},
title = {United ‘Still Solidly Profitable’ as Fuels Costs Rise, CEO Kirby Says},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Bloomberg Television. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {oct},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3109474/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
