UNITED Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has made a dig at major rivals in a recent earnings call, revealing that only two companies are on top.
The CEO slammed long-term rival American Airlines, admitting that United no longer even sees it as a competitor.
United Airlines held its Q2 earnings call last week in which its CEO lashed out at rival American Airlines (stock)[/caption]
United CEO Scott Kirby has reignited the bitter rivalry by firmly placing itself and Delta above American Airlines and all other companies[/caption]
During the Q2 earnings call last week, in which the airline reported $15.2 billion in revenue, Kirby said that only two airlines are at the top of the industry at the moment.
Those failing to be as successful must do one thing in order to return to a competitive level, the CEO claimed.
He highlighted how the industry has been split into “brand loyal airlines” and “everyone else”.
The first category consists only of United and Delta, the CEO said.
“The strength of the two brand loyal airlines really winning and everyone else losing,” he explained.
“If I dig deeper into it and I look at every airline that’s not named United or Delta, I can find at every single one of them, a double-digit percentage of their route network that loses money.”
The CEO claimed the only way for them to get their margins close to their weighted average cost (WAC) is to “stop flying to places that lose money”.
His comments come as United confirmed that it will be suspending flights to a tourist hotspot in a matter of weeks.
From September 2, some United customers will no longer be able to book flights to Cuba with a route between Houston and Havana blacked out for the entirety of the winter 2025-26 season.
“We make regular adjustments to our flight schedule based on seasonality, demand, and other market factors,” a spokesperson for United told The U.S. Sun about the move.
While American Airlines has kept quiet about the most recent snub from United, the pair’s rivalry is no big secret.
BITE BACK
Back in March, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said Kirby is “dead wrong” about his attitude and constant derision towards his airline.
At the time, Kirby had said that “there’s only room in the country for two successful airlines,” a belief he has held since 2013
“I worked for Scott and with Scott for a long time,” Isom told JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker at an investor conference earlier this year.
“I’ve seen 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.”
“Scott says this kind of stuff, I’m sure, because he would like nothing better than to not have American Airlines as a competitor,” Isom added.
Isom’s rare rebuttal was praised by the Allied Pilots Association.
Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the group representing US pilots said at the time: “Kirby has definitely built a mammoth network at United but it was good to see Isom punch back.
“We like to see a good competitive fight. That’s what we’re about.”
However, after the earnings call last week, he has admitted that the “moat is broadening between Delta, United, and American.
“So many past network and product decisions have cemented American’s place on the bronze medal road.”
“American management will tell the world how well it’s going, but compared with Delta and United, the results scream otherwise. That has to change,” he concluded.
As the bitter rivalry is set to continue, United and America have decided to roll out new charges to customers while Delta has axed the controversial policy.
Kirby has repeatedly said that there is only room for two top airlines in the country, and those spots are filled by itself and Delta[/caption]
Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines previously bit back at Kirby’s derision saying he is ‘dead wrong’ and hates that American is a major competitor[/caption]
