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https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/united-airlines-ceo-scott-kirb
y-takes-shot-at-american-airlines-predicts-only-two-industry-leaders-everyone-el
se-101763767558137.html

https://reurl.cc/1k0NVD

ByShirin Gupta

Published on: Nov 22, 2025 08:48 am IST

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has directly questioned the lonf-term viability
of American Airlines and speaks of the future of  the U.S. airline industry

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has made a striking forecast about the future
of the U.S. airline industry, and in doing so, directly questioned the long-term
 viability of American Airlines.

 Scott Kirby, chief executive officer at United Airlines Holdings Inc., Photogr
apher: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg(Bloomberg)

In his latest remarks, Kirby insisted that only two “brand-loyal” full-service
 airlines will remain dominant, naming United and Delta, and implicitly excludin
g American.

“everyone else … is sort of competing for spill traffic.”

During a recent appearance on the “Airline Confidential” podcast, Kirby stated
 that he expects the industry to consolidate into major, revenue-diverse, full-s
ervice carriers. According to him, “everyone else … is sort of competing for s
pill traffic.”

Kirby suggested that many other airlines, including American, are running unprof
itable parts of their network.

He argued that because American is not part of this “brand-loyalty” group, it
may soon be forced to cut unprofitable routes or face serious financial strain.
“I can find at every single one of them [airlines], a double-digit percentage o
f their route network that loses money,” he said during United's Q2 earnings ca
ll in July 2025, as reported by The Street.

Kirby has also taken aim at low-cost and ultra-low-cost airlines in his previous
 public interviews. He has labelled the “budget airline model” as “dead,” cr
iticizing the hidden-fee structure and arguing that such carriers lack the brand
 loyalty needed to survive long term.

United's aggressive business expansion

Kirby's remarks come as United aggressively started expanding at key hubs earlie
r this year, especially Chicago O'Hare (ORD). According to Aviation A27, United
is increasing its daily departures at ORD as it captures more local and connecti
ng market share.

He has reportedly told United pilots that American could eventually be squeezed
out of Chicago, suggesting what he views as a long-term strategic edge.

CEO Robert Isom vs CEO Scott Kirby

Kirby was asked to depart American in 2016 because of conflicts in the executive
 suite. As president, Robert Isom replaced him. Kirby was then appointed preside
nt of United and later promoted to CEO, where he oversaw a change that has cause
d United to overtake American and challenge Delta as the industry leader.

After Kirby departed from American, he has repeatedly made comments about United
 being a premier airline and saying American is not.

In Q1, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom finally replied to his comments and s
aid, “I worked for Scott and with Scott for a long time,” said Isom. “I’ve s
een him be right on a lot of stuff. He’s a brilliant man. I’ve seen him wrong
on a lot of stuff. In this case, he’s dead wrong.”

He further added, “Scott says this kind of stuff I’m sure, because he would li
ke nothing better than to not have American Airlines as a competitor. We’re a p
remium product competitor.”

In earlier CEO exchanges, Isom also accused United of painting an overly rosy pi
cture of its strength, while insisting American’s growth, particularly in its
Sunbelt hubs, is real and sustainable.

Kirby's argument is based on the idea of “brand-loyal airlines.” The carriers
that command repeat customers who prefer their brand over competitors are in his
 stage. He believes that in a cost-pressured and competitive market, only airlin
es with a strong customer base and diversified revenue will survive and thrive.

UA CEO Scott Kirby表示
未來在美國將只有兩家全服務航空公司處於市場主導地位
這兩家航空公司就是UA跟DL
也對前東家AA的生存能力產生了質疑

並表示未來沒有做到品牌忠誠度
以及在成本、聯網以及轉機流量無法做到頂尖的航空公司將會被淘汰，只能搶剩下的客人
(個人覺得 應該是指 以價格優先沒有忠誠度的客人 )

也提到UA跟AA同一個樞紐芝加哥ORD機場，UA積極擴張鞏固轉機優勢


但AA的執行長則反駁他的論點

以上是本則新聞大致上的內容

UA CEO 尻洗前東家
確實疫情之後 服務下降
藉由AI找尋一些資料
AA現在的兩位大頭都是US出身的
擅長於成本控管...
嗯...
讓我想到了馬會計 南廉航...


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※ 作者: abian746 2025-11-23 16:44:39
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