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United Airlines’ CEO, Scott Kirby, is fairly outspoken and grabs lots of headlines with his shifting to the wills of the current President (both with Biden and Trump) as well as for his comments during earnings calls, interviews, and more. The past few weeks have been tough for airlines as they have worked through the government shutdown. Today, Kirby released statements around Veteran’s Day and United’s performance during the shutdown. Perhaps the most interesting of his statements is the proclamation that United is “the best airline in the history of aviation.”
Kirby has credited United’s employees for their response to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) directive last week requiring airlines to reduce flights during the ongoing government shutdown. He said the airline acted within hours of the order and cancelled hundreds of flights for the following weekend while implementing additional customer support measures to minimize disruption.
The FAA’s move, intended to alleviate strain on the air traffic control system as staffing shortages increased, left airlines with little time to adjust. United quickly mobilized operational teams to cut flights strategically. By Thursday evening, hundreds of flights scheduled for Friday through Sunday had already been removed from the schedule. Additional reductions have been made in the days that followed.
Kirby further said United focused on doing what was right for both customers and employees. The carrier launched several customer-first measures, including a dedicated webpage with real-time updates on cancellations, proactive rebooking notifications through its mobile app, and a flexible refund policy extended to all passengers (even for those holding nonrefundable tickets).
Customers were kept informed and employees assisted them through schedule changes and cancellations. Despite widespread operational challenges nationwide (Saturday alone saw over 7,500 flight delays across the industry), United reported some of its strongest customer satisfaction scores in years. The airline said the past week included three of its top six Net Promoter Score (NPS) days of 2025 and among its top 25 since 2022.
As the government shutdown continues, the airline said it will keep updating schedules on a rolling basis and prioritize transparency and flexibility for travelers.
In a separate statement released to honor Veteran’s Day, Kirby lauded the airline. Here is what he said in his annual message (first shared by Live and Let’s Fly):
Hello everyone, thank you for all that you’ve done to make United Airlines the best airline in the history of aviation. I’m so proud of all of you. But today, I wanted to you and say happy Veterans Day and thanks to all the people who served in our country’s armed forces in the past or are serving today.
I’m coming to you today from my alma mater here at the United States Air Force Academy, where I just got to see hundreds of cadets and really be inspired for the next generation. And people that are volunteering, that are making the same kind of commitment that many of you had to make sure that this stays the greatest country on Earth. So thank you to everyone at United Airlines for making us the best airline in history and all the veterans who have made this the greatest country on Earth. Thank you.”
The message is nice, but many will argue that United is not the best airline ever. United has a great app, an incredible route network, but has let MileagePlus erode over the past few years, is hit or miss with in-flight service, and still has a bit to go before it’s more profitable than Delta. It’s hard to say how Kirby deduced this honor since no metrics for evaluation were provided.
Anthony’s Take: I will give United credit for being the most transparent during the government shutdown. While they were my preferred carrier ofr many years, I now find the experience across American, Delta, and United to be pretty comparable with plusses and minuses at each carrier.
(Image Credits: United Airlines.)
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