Scott Kirby has wanted American Airlines from before he was its president. He’s tried every other method, but now he might have to try the old-fashioned way.
Scott Kirby’s Prior American Airlines Entanglements
Scott Kirby’s history with American Airlines actually begins before he worked for the carrier, when he spent part of his early career at American Airlines Decision Technologies, then a subsidiary of AMR. He later joined America West, rose through the executive ranks, and became president of US Airways before helping to engineer its merger with American in 2013. When the deal closed, Kirby became president of the combined American Airlines underneath Doug Parker as CEO, overseeing much of the planning, pricing, marketing, and operation of what was then the world’s largest carrier. That run ended abruptly in August 2016 when American replaced him with Robert Isom, and United hired Kirby as president almost immediately, setting him on the path to becoming CEO in 2020.
After first making it clear he’d like Chicago O’Hare to be a one-airline hub (he doesn’t seem to have the same plans for Southwest at Chicago Midway), he’s set his sights on expansion at Miami, a true fortress hub for American Airlines. The city makes practical sense for United more than most other hubs where American might be challenged. If United were to expand to Phoenix, for example, they’d face another three-airline hub problem as they have in Denver and Chicago, and I can’t imagine that is ideal for the carrier. In Charlotte, American doesn’t carry the same origin-destination premium that Miami would. United already owns Newark and while the aim is to expand at JFK again, there’s little utility to do this in a meaningful way. Over the last decade, no single carrier can claim clear success at LAX and he’d also have to battle Delta and Alaska, alongside American and Southwest to grow further. Dallas would be the same situation as Chicago, and with Houston just down the road, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Further, much of the flying could be performed by short haul aircraft for which the carrier is adding at an accelerated pace. For United, Miami could be the perfect fit – well, almost.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Live and Let's Fly.
