What United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby Wants From Donald Trump

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby sat down with NPR on Tuesday in Washington Dulles Airport to discuss what he is looking for from the incoming Trump administration.

United Airlines CEO Wants Trump Administration To Focus On Air Traffic Control Modernization

Kirby explained that a huge contributing factor to delays in November 2024 was not United, but the US Air Traffic Control system:

“For the whole month of November, we had over half a million customers that were delayed because of air traffic control shortfalls in Newark alone. It is the biggest issue, the biggest opportunity to make air travel better for customers in the United States.”

Kirby pointed to Newark being “3,000 controllers short” and using “decades-old” technology creating the gridlock that delays flights beyond the control of airlines like United, which has a fortress hub at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Interestingly, the FAA used almost the same word, describing its staffing woes as a “decades-long” issue.

Outgoing FAA administrator Mike Whitaker does claim, however, that the problem is getting better:

“We work very closely with the airlines. They’ve understood that there were going to be some bumps in the road. They haven’t been any worse than we anticipated, and the delays are actually down year over year.”

And that’s true…but the delays are still unacceptable and the air traffic control system in the USA is just crying out for innovation.

I’m not all that optimistic that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy can do much at the so-called DOGE or Department of Government Efficiency (though I do wish them the best), but if there is a path for efficiency that would greatly benefit the public, it is certainly a meaningful and rapid update to the entire ATC system.

Entrenched interests may attempt to raise barriers that slow this down–and the US (thankfully) will never move as rapidly as the People’s Republic of China in infrastructure projects in which private property and personal liberties are summarily sacrificed for the good of the party–but the key to an efficient, prosperous, and less-corrupt economy is via modern infrastructure, both physical and technological.

So yes, I agree with Kirby… infrastructure is the biggest thing that Trump can do to leave a helpful mark on the economy. Hopefully, there is the will and funding to do it…because it will only cost more later.

image: @scottkirby/Instagram