United Airlines chief executive officer Scott Kirby is in hot water over taking a private jet on June 28, in the midst of thousands of U.S. flight cancelations.
In the run-up to the July 4th weekend, approximately 43,000 U.S. flights were delayed and over 7,700 were grounded between June 24 and June 29. United (UAL) canceled 750 flights alone on the same day Kirby took a private flight from Teterboro, New Jersey to Denver, Colorado.
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On Friday, June 30, Kirby issued a statement apologizing for the decision to fly private in the middle of a chaotic week for the airline industry and for his own company.
“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," Kirby noted in his statement. “I’ll better demonstrate my respect for the dedication of our team members and the loyalty of our customers,” the statement concluded.
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Kirby could not get a reservation for his Denver flight so he opted to fly private, The Wall Street Journal reported. A United spokesperson noted Kirby paid for the trip out of his own pocket.
Kirby was also front and center earlier last week as tens of thousands of United travelers either had their flights grounded or delayed. The United CEO blamed bad weather and air traffic control staffing issues for the flight woes.
“The FAA frankly failed us this weekend,” Kirby wrote in a June 26 email to company employees. "We estimate that over 150,000 customers on United alone were impacted this weekend because of FAA staffing issues and their ability to manage traffic."
By Monday, July 3, travel disruptions eased somewhat, with over 14,900 flights delayed and 539 cancellations. That’s down from 30,156 flight delays and 921 cancellations on Saturday, July 1, according to FlightAware.
