United CEO Calls an Inflection Point — For Real, This Time
Skift Take
Airline executives like to talk about "inflection points," but throughout the pandemic they have seen their hopes dashed as the virus resurges. United CEO Scott Kirby is committed this time.
Airline executives have tossed around the phrase “inflection point” a lot at various times during the coronavirus pandemic, ever hopeful that the latest uptick in traffic, or bookings, or decline in daily cash burn augurs a recovery in the offing.
So far, they've been disappointed, and the inflection point keeps moving. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby is no different. But he is convinced that now the airline is indeed at an inflection point, on an unstoppable upward trajectory fueled by an almost unsatiable demand for leisure travel, strengthening business demand, and border reopenings around the world.
Kirby acknowledges the present is grim, but he's looking to 2023. That’s when United expects to match and ultimately exceed its 2019 profits. Closer in, domestic business travel should start to recover in the second half of the year. “We are still in the pre-season right now,” Kirby told analysts during the company’s first-quarter 2021 earnings call on Tuesday. “The
