Scott Kirby is CEO of United Airlines. After studying at the U.S. Air Force Academy, he has spent the past three decades working in the airline business. Data-driven and focused on strategy, he’s also motivated by culture and people. Scott is a well-known industry veteran who can navigate uncertain times and has a bold vision for establishing United as the best airline in the history of aviation. Scott is passionate about exercise and is a voracious reader (spending approximately three hours per day doing so).

KEY TAKE-AWAY

A daily routine involving 8 to 9 hours sleep, an hour’s exercise and 3 hours reading is unusual and even more so for the CEO of a global company.

Reading, motivated by curiosity, is an invaluable source not only of information, but more importantly of the ideas and insights that provide those ‘ha ha’ moments of enlightened understanding of the world.

It is better not to read the press online: by perusing an actual newspaper you read things that online the algorithms would probably have filtered out.

In February 2020, it was vital ‘dot-connection’ made possible by extensive reading that lay at the root of identifying the global pandemic as just that. As a result, United had a substantial head start and an ongoing advantage in terms of its preparedness for weathering the turmoil to come and for turning it into an opportunity.  “When you read extensively you are better prepared to identity and then process a new situation.”

People generally underestimate the importance of sleep, not just in terms of overall health but also for acuteness of cognitive capacity and celerity. “Good personal habits put you in a position to make good decisions and to make them quick”

Restricting scheduled meetings to 4 hours of the working day leaves vital unscheduled space to think.  This is something to be emulated throughout organisations at all levels. “None of my best ideas occur in a big meeting – they occur when I’m hiking up the mountain.”

Too many CEO’s are more managerial than visionary. You are never going to do something visionary if you’re stuck in the rut of daily repetition. Good leaders must be ready to take risks and take responsibility. A good leadership team is one that finishes by being aligned but that feels free to express different views on the way.  Decisions should be taken not delayed, even if they turn out to be wrong, but if they result from discussion and debate they will enjoy shared ownership.

Future of travel:

  • Conviction that travel will return 100% to pre-pandemic levels for both business and leisure. because travel is not primarily about transaction but about human relationships.
  • Foresees an increase in regulations in terms of taxes or credits related to sustainable fuels and other environmental criteria. United is very focused on sustainable aviation fuel. Using 100% sustainable fuel is part of the visionary supersonic aircraft story.
  • Technology in airline industry is going to be more evolutionary than revolutionary. Fusion technology remains a ‘silver bullet’ in the sustainable fuel domain – but it’s very hard and still a long way off.

Too many big (potentially very influential corporations) are opting for ostensibly effective carbon offset solutions but which all too often turn out to be fraudulent.

In the US political arena there is a critical need to set aside partisan views and vote through vital climate legislation.