United Airlines News

United Airlines took its sustainability crusade to Washington, D.C., this week. The carrier demoed the ability of used cooking oil to power a jet on a flight to the nation's capital with the aim of getting the feds to pick up some of the estimated $250 billion needed to kick start sustainable fuels.

The airline industry is taking a wait-and-see approach to the new Omicron variant. But the new variant is the latest indication that rolling travel restrictions and dips in demand in the wake of endemic Covid-19 outbreaks could be just become another facet of the airline business.

As the saying goes, you can run but you can't hide. Skiplagged may be marketing Southwest flights for now and helping flyers book them, but this practice doesn't have a bright future.

Listen now for a conversation with United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby from Skift Aviation Forum in November 2021.

In Skift's top stories this week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby says the airline will beat margin leader Delta Air Lines by improving the passenger experience, Accor executives explain why the hotel giant has struggled to make inroads in the U.S., and American Airlines CEO Doug Parker expresses confidence that business travel will return to pre-pandemic levels.

Have airlines passed an inflection point and will 2022 be the year demand recovers more fully? Airline executives at the Skift Aviation Forum believe so, although they warn that the road to recovery will be bumpy.

Air service to smaller U.S. cities could wither unless regional airlines can ramp up hiring. Despite offering large bonuses to new pilots, regional carriers are scrambling to find enough talent to operate all their flights.

United CEO Scott Kirby is talking up his investments in product, and quality improvements at the carrier. But it will still be a steep challenge to beat Delta Air Lines, the longstanding leader on quality and margins in the U.S.

Why is United Airlines pulling out of eight markets even as it aggressively expands its schedule and hopes to return to its 2019 levels of flying? Is it because those eight routes are unprofitable, or is it feeling the effects of a tight labor market?

President Biden's more than $1 trillion infrastructure plan provides an unseen-for-decades investment in U.S. transportation. But achieving its lofty goals could pose new challenges, which is something former President Obama knows well after partisan politics stymied some of his infrastructure ambitions.