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Scott Kirby
American airline executive From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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John Scott Kirby[1] (born August 13, 1967) is an American executive and the CEO of United Airlines. He was president of US Airways, American Airlines, and United Airlines, later being promoted as CEO.
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Early life and education
Kirby was raised in Rowlett, Texas, the oldest of six children. In high school, he played baseball and football, and had aspirations of becoming a professional athlete.[2] He received a bachelor's degree in computer science and operations research in 1989 from the United States Air Force Academy, where he trained to be a pilot. He later earned a master's degree in operations research at George Washington University.[2][3]
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Career
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Early in his career, Kirby worked at the Pentagon as a budget analyst for the United States Secretary of Defense for three years. He later worked for Sabre Decision Technologies (SDT), a subsidiary of AMR Corporation within the tourism and transport industries.[2]
Kirby joined America West Airlines in 1995,[4] working in various executive roles.[2][5] Kirby began as president of US Airways in September 2006,[6][7] after it merged with America West in 2005.[8] He led US Airways' team for planning the merger.[5] Kirby became president of American Airlines after the company merged with US Airways in 2013.[3][9] He and American Airlines CEO Doug Parker worked closely together at America West, US Airways, and American.[8][10]
Kirby became president of United Airlines in August 2016.[11][12] He was announced as the successor to the CEO role in December 2019, following Oscar Munoz; his tenure started in May 2020. Kirby has been credited with expanding the airline's flight network,[13] and restructuring hubs in Chicago, Denver, and Houston.[14][15]
In December 2020, Kirby was elected as chairman of the Star Alliance chief executive board (CEB), succeeding former chairman Pedro Heilbron.[16]
In August 2021, Kirby told Axios about his decision to mandate all United employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine, claiming he has had dozens of employees die from COVID "and 100% of them are unvaccinated."[17]
As of 2025, Kirby's compensation as CEO is $33.9 million.[18] He is a member of The Business Council in Washington, D.C.[19]
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Personal life
Kirby is married and has seven children.[20][2][21] He has donated money to both Republican and Democratic politicians, and donated to Steve Bullock's presidential campaign in 2020.[22]
References
External links
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