United Airlines’ (NASDAQ:UAL) incoming CEO doesn’t mince words.
“It’s far better to be too aggressive than not aggressive enough,” Scott Kirby told a J.P. Morgan industry conference in early March, laying out a bleak picture of potentially sharp revenue declines, as the coronavirus was starting to disrupt everyday life in the U.S.
Weeks later, the pandemic dragged air travel demand down to the lowest levels since the 1950s and the country’s airlines, including United, posted their first losses in years. In quick succession, United announced a series of capacity cuts and idled hundreds of planes as Kirby and CEO Oscar Munoz warned of job cuts this fall if demand doesn’t return.
The airline scrambled to raise and conserve cash, including debt and equity sales, and sale leasebacks of some planes.
The 52-year-old Kirby has been United’s president since August 2016 and a more than two-decade airline executive. He takes over the top job on Wednesday, facing the greatest challenge of his career, during which he has navigated bankruptcies, mergers, the effects of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and the 2008 financial crisis.
Known as an action-taker with a talent for growing airline networks to maximize revenue, Kirby is expected to focus on reducing cash burn and reducing costs.
United went into the second quarter burning about $50 million a day and plans to reduce that to a daily average of $40 million to $45 million in the second quarter and possibly below $40 million in the third quarter.
UAL grew 68 cents, or 2.8%, to $24.81.
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