United CEO Scott Kirby issued an apology to passengers and employees for taking a private plane while United was plagued with flight delays and cancelations.
United confirmed that Scott Kirby flew from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Denver, Colorado via a private plane on Wednesday. Teterboro is approximately 17 miles away from one of United’s largest hubs in Newark, New Jersey. And this week, Newark, New Jersey was at the center of the airline’s mess.
On Wednesday, passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport had a difficult time traveling to their destinations because there were no flights available. That same week, United had several cases of flight delays, cancellations, and lost luggage.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, United canceled more than 25% of their flights. This problem continued on Thursday as the airline scrubbed around 19% of its flights that day.
Insensitive to Customers and Employees
In Kirby’s statement, he said that “Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home.” He added that “I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days – often through severe weather – to take care of our customers.”
He then promised, “to better demonstrate my respect for the dedication of our team members and the loyalty of our customers.”
United’s Troubles
Since Saturday, United canceled more than 3,000 flights. Kirby blamed the cancelations and the delays, particularly the mess in the New York area, on the Federal Aviation Administration. In a company memo, he wrote that “The FAA frankly failed us this weekend.”
However, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, fired back at the United CEO’s memo. On CNN Primetime on Wednesday, Buttigieg said that “Look, United has some internal issues they need to work through. They’ve really been struggling this week, even relative to other US airlines.”
Buttigieg then tweeted on Thursday saying “With the exception of United, airlines have recovered to a more typical cancellation/delay rate as of this morning, after the severe weather earlier this week. FAA will continue to work with airlines to help them minimize disruptions during the busy 4th of July travel weekend.”
It’s not just the customers that are unhappy. Pilots voiced the same frustrations. Captain Garth Thompson, president of the United chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association union, said that “It is United Airlines management that is failing our loyal customers by ignoring the warning signs and failing to properly plan.”
