Latest news with #ScottKirby
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby slams the budget airline model: 'It's dead'
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby criticized the budget airline model in a recent interview. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's "Future of Everything" event, Kirby said the model was "dead." His comments came the same day United announced a new partnership with JetBlue. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby earlier this week took a shot at what he called the "crappy" budget airline model. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's "Future of Everything" event on Thursday, Kirby said the low-cost carrier model was "dead." "The model was screw the customer," he said. "It was like trick people, get them to buy, and get them to come, and then charge them a whole bunch of fees that they aren't expecting … disclosures buried in legalese," he continued. "Their problem is they got big enough that they needed repeat customers. They don't get them." Kirby's comments came the same day that United announced a new partnership with JetBlue, which many consider to be a budget carrier. The partnership, known as Blue Sky, will allow United to access slots for up to seven daily round-trip flights out of JFK's Terminal 6 as early as 2027. The deal, which is subject to regulatory review, will also allow customers to earn and use frequent flyer miles across both airlines, among other things. Kirby said on Thursday that JetBlue offered something different to traditional budget airlines. "JetBlue was founded in trying to be a better airline for customers. Budget airlines were founded in trying to have the absolute bare bones lowest cost," he said. "They may both be startups, but two polar-opposite business models." The exec was pressed on whether United had considered purchasing JetBlue. Laughing, Kirby said he was asked that "a lot" and that he was "reluctant" to do a merger. "Mergers are hard," he said. Going forward, he said United was focusing on its frequent flyers. "What we're really looking for is to have a bigger presence for our frequent flyers on both sides of the Hudson," he said. "To be bigger in places like Boston." Despite outperforming most of its peers in 2024, United announced in April that it would cut about 4% of its domestic capacity starting in July because of softening demand. Trump's tariffs caused some Canadians and other international travelers to cancel their summer vacations in the United States, which could mean trouble for domestic airlines. "The company's outlook is dependent on the macro environment, which the company believes is impossible to predict this year with any degree of confidence," the airline said. Read the original article on Business Insider Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Inicia sesión para acceder a tu portafolio Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
United CEO urges flyers to buy tickets now
Published: | United Airline's CEO, Scott Kirby, is urging customers to snap up some of the cheapest flights he's seen from an iconic destination. After tarmac construction delays, several well-documented traffic control outages , and a wave of cancellations, travelers have been avoiding Newark International Airport. That chaos has unexpectedly created what Kirby is calling an affordable window to fly into the airport. 'Because we lost a lot of bookings, there's a lot more seats available,' Kirby said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal . 'It's going to be the cheapest it's probably ever going to be in history.' Newark Airport, one of United's major US hubs, has quickly responded to safety concerns. Airlines have cut back on their Newark-bound offerings and the US Department of Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, said officials are updating equipment to minimize risk . Completion of a new communications line is expected by July. In the meantime, Kirby and Duffy have both said it is safe to fly into Newark. 'Newark is safe,' Kirby said, while calling the customer hesitance a 'perception issue.' United has cut back on 35 daily scheduled flights into its hub to help quell the traffic. Last week, a Cessna descended into a San Diego neighborhood, killing six . Safety issues and continued drops in consumer economic sentiment have become a toxic mix for major airlines. Some of the biggest companies — including United, American, Delta, and Southwest — all expected booming sales in 2025. Still, the company believes it will turn a profit this year. It confirmed its strong business with a quirky twist on a traditional financial outlook. The airliner reported two potential forecasts for the rest of 2025. One potential earnings forecast shows the company's finances if the US avoids a recession, while the other one shows the profit if the economy continues to contract.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby slams the budget airline model: 'It's dead'
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby earlier this week took a shot at what he called the "crappy" budget airline model. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's "Future of Everything" event on Thursday, Kirby said the low-cost carrier model was "dead." "The model was screw the customer," he said. "It was like trick people, get them to buy, and get them to come, and then charge them a whole bunch of fees that they aren't expecting … disclosures buried in legalese," he continued. "Their problem is they got big enough that they needed repeat customers. They don't get them." Kirby's comments came the same day that United announced a new partnership with JetBlue, which many consider to be a budget carrier. The partnership, known as Blue Sky, will allow United to access slots for up to seven daily round-trip flights out of JFK's Terminal 6 as early as 2027. The deal, which is subject to regulatory review, will also allow customers to earn and use frequent flyer miles across both airlines, among other things. Kirby said on Thursday that JetBlue offered something different to traditional budget airlines. "JetBlue was founded in trying to be a better airline for customers. Budget airlines were founded in trying to have the absolute bare bones lowest cost," he said. "They may both be startups, but two polar-opposite business models." The exec was pressed on whether United had considered purchasing JetBlue. Laughing, Kirby said he was asked that "a lot" and that he was "reluctant" to do a merger. "Mergers are hard," he said. Going forward, he said United was focusing on its frequent flyers. "What we're really looking for is to have a bigger presence for our frequent flyers on both sides of the Hudson," he said. "To be bigger in places like Boston." Despite outperforming most of its peers in 2024, United announced in April that it would cut about 4% of its domestic capacity starting in July because of softening demand. Trump's tariffs caused some Canadians and other international travelers to cancel their summer vacations in the United States, which could mean trouble for domestic airlines. "The company's outlook is dependent on the macro environment, which the company believes is impossible to predict this year with any degree of confidence," the airline said.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
United's CEO proclaims the budget airline model is dead and argues they ‘screw the customer'
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told The Wall Street Journal in an interview on Thursday the budget airline model is dead, adding that these 'crappy' models 'screw the customer.' Kirby's interview was on the same day, however, as the announcement of a partnership between United and JetBlue, which many consider to be a budget airline. All eyes have been on airlines recently as problems with antiquated air traffic control systems have led to mass delays and cancellations—particularly at Newark Liberty International Airport. But a silver lining for air travel customers this summer is that the cost to fly is likely to be 'the cheapest it's probably ever going to be in history,' United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in an interview at a Wall Street Journal conference this week. That's because so many customers have canceled their flights out of fear of further delays and cancellations that there will be more seats available. 'I don't really like that, but you ought to book,' Kirby said. 'This is short-term painful for us at Newark, but it's long-term better because the FAA is going to do what they do at JFK, LaGuardia, which is manage the number of flights to be equal to the capacity of the airport.' But just because United flights might be cheaper temporarily doesn't knock them down to a budget airline. In fact, Kirby during the same interview dissed low-cost airlines, calling them a 'crappy model' that was designed to 'screw the customer.' 'It was like, trick people, get them to buy, and get them to come, and then charge them a whole bunch of fees that they aren't expecting,' Kirby said. 'Their problem is they got big enough that they needed repeat customers. They don't get them.' The model 'is dead,' he added. But budget airlines don't see it that way. 'With the New Frontier, we offer a free carry-on bag, free changes, and free seat assignments in our economy product,' Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle told Fortune. 'He must be referring to other carriers.' Frontier is typically considered a budget airline, along with Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Air, Ryanair, and Breeze Airways. Those airlines didn't respond to Fortune's request for comment in response to Kirby's allegations. Some consumers also consider JetBlue to be a budget airline, and coincidentally, Kirby's interview with WSJ happened to be on the same day United announced a partnership with JetBlue. The deal—called Blue Sky—allows passengers to earn and spend frequent flyer miles between the two airlines. It will also eventually let each carrier's elite frequent flyers to get reciprocal benefits and other business perks. The partnership is subject to regulatory review, but it could start as soon as this fall. And budget airlines are far from the only offenders when it comes to tacking on extra fees and charges. Consumer advocates have long criticized the 'unbundling' by which airlines, including United, have started charging to check bags, eat on the flight, and other amenities that used to be part of the ticket price. United Airlines didn't respond to Fortune's request for comment about whether Kirby's assertions about budget airlines conflicted with their JetBlue partnership. Kirby insisted during his WSJ interview, though, JetBlue isn't the typical budget airline model. 'JetBlue is not that at all,' Kirby said, calling the airline a poster child for customer satisfaction. He used the example of how JetBlue first put live televisions in its aircrafts. Kirby admittedly thought it was a gimmick at first, he said, but when he saw more than 20 people on his JetBlue flight watching TV, he changed his mind. He thought, 'holy cow, they got this right, and it was literally a turning point for me,' Kirby said. 'JetBlue is founded in trying to be a better airline for customers. The budget airlines were founded in trying to have the absolute bare bones lowest cost. They may both be startups, [but have] two polar-opposite business models.' This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
United Airlines CEO Says Flights Will Be ‘Cheapest Ever' at Newark
Scott Kirby said flying into the carrier's New Jersey hub is safe, encouraging customers to take advantage of low ticket prices for summer travel. He spoke with WSJ's Kate Linebaugh at the Future of Everything event. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
