Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, has laid out four pillars that are needed for the airline to become the biggest and the best airline in the history of aviation.
In a video message to employees reviewed by Live and Let's Fly, Kirby seeks to rally the troops for what he views as the most critical year in United's push to grow and win loyalty.
Kirby has thanked employees for their tenacity during the Pandemic to transform the image of United into a company that commands more respect from the public at large and the decision makers who influence public policy. Kirby thanked employees for their work, but his message was more about the future.
“But as proud as I am of the last two years, we are about to embark on an exciting and historic growth initiative at United Airlines, United Next.”
United Next will include the addition of 500 new aircraft and the retrofit of all existing aircraft to include customer-friendly features.
Read more about United Airlines modernizing Mainline Jets with new interiors.
Kirby described United Next, his first pillar to build the biggest and best airline.
“For a little bit of context, the fastest any airline in the world has grown in history was Ryanair grew by 52 net new airplanes in a single year. We’re going to grow by over 100 airplanes per year, and we’re going to do it five years in a row.
“We’re going to add 500 aircraft to the fleet of United Airlines. And that is a great opportunity but it’s also going to be challenging. What that means is that we’ve got, this year, four pillars to really, really focus on, that we can all focus on to make sure that we’re successful and that we continue to build upon the foundation that we build during COVID, to really establish ourselves as the biggest and the best airline in the history of aviation.
“And if we’re successful bringing these 500 airplanes onboard, we are so far ahead of any of our competitors that there’s really no way that anyone can catch up to us.”
Kirby explained the complexity of upsizing the fleet.
Kirby encouraged existing employees to take on larger roles with more responsibility as thousands more are hired.
Kirby said that a snare could hinder the goal of bringing on two airplanes per week for the next few years.
Kirby argued that United made huge gains in Net Promoter Score during the Pandemic by abandoning change fees and using Connection Saver technology to avoid missed flights.
“We have to be really focused not only on taking care of customers, but also getting the planes off the gate and keeping the airline running on time, because there’s nothing that drives our customer satisfaction as much as running an on-time airline and getting their flights there.”
Live and Let's Fly has learned that United is scaling back its Connection Saver program as it considers how important on-time is for the majority of passengers on its flights.
Kirby continues to push the narrative that customer service is the key to getting a premium in revenue from customers rather than simply competing on the basis of ticket cost.
“You know, I think that in the end is going to be probably the most enduring change that we all are able to look back on at the end of COVID and say, what changed the most about United Airlines? And it is the focus on the customer.
“And that feeling, making our customers feel like we care, because we do care, and taking care of those customers, more than anything, is what’s going to drive our market share higher and get us out of the world of just competing for the lowest price, and get customers who are loyal to United, who believe in United, who know what we stand for.”
Kirby outlined the goal of controlling costs. Kirby sees this through technology.
“What we haven’t done is take any of the cheese off the pizza. We have invested more in the product, in the customer experience, and how we treat and take care of customers, and you can see that with the United Next order.
“What we also have to do is use all the technology that we created that many other airlines don’t have. We’ve created new processes, new technology, that are going to allow us have costs that come down over time, cost per available seat-mile (CASMx).”
The replacement of airports agents with agents on demand may impress Wall Street, but flyers have a mixed experience with this concept.
Kirby believes that replacing regional jets with larger mainline jets will result in further cost savings.
“The other tailwind that we have is because we’re growing that drives cost efficiency, and because we’re up-guaging. We’re going to add on average about 30% more seats per flight to our airplanes in the next few years, and that gives us a real tailwind. “
Kirby says that it is essential for United Next to be successful. Costs in other areas will need to be controlled.
“So while we implement United Next, while we focus on operational excellence, we can’t lose sight of all the progress we made on efficiency to run a cost-efficient airline.”
In a scaled back soft product onboard, passengers have most-noticed that cost-efficiency.
Kirby made the case that United will be the biggest airline in the world and 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266
“These four pillars will really drive United to a historic achievement. We’ve set ourselves up to be the biggest, the best airline in the history of aviation. During the pandemic, we got a full lap ahead of our competitors, and it’s up to use to finish the race and do so successfully.
“And as long as we don’t stumble, there’s no way anyone can catch us. But to be clear, this is an every single person at United Airlines effort. We’re going to be growing fast, and we need 100% of the people at United Airlines all in on making this the biggest, the best airline in the history of aviation.”
Over the last two years, United got a full lap ahead of it, but there is no doubt that the United Next program has the chance to fundamentally transform United Airlines. Next week, we will break down some of the obstacles that may make this task harder.
What do you think about Kirby's vision for United? Are you fully onboard if you are an employee?
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