United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby understood he required to prepare for a global pandemic after seeing how rapidly the coronavirus spread in Italy– even as he was informed he was overreacting.
Why it matters: In an interview Sunday with Axios Re: Cap, Kirby keeps in mind how last March he began writing individual letters to the households of employees who passed away from the infection and attempting “to put myself as much as possible in the shoes of the people” receiving the notes.
What he’s saying: ” The first time we were told we had lost someone in Newark, I remember it. It was in March, we had a variety of staff members on ventilators, you know, we had such a big employment base in New Jersey and I asked, you know, if I could get the address for the household and get some cards to send out condolences to them,” Kirby stated in an unique interview with Axios.
- ” If you do that, if you feel that, it makes a difference in the choices you make … It’s been a couple of weeks given that I’ve had to do it. And I hope and hope that I won’t need to do it again.”
Flashback: ” I first started checking out COVID-19 actually in December of2019 But when it actually hit me that the genie was out of the bottle and this was going to become a global pandemic was at the very start of March on the weekend when COVID appeared in Italy,” Kirby stated.
- ” No one realizes it yet, but this is going to be an international pandemic and it is already all around the world,” Kirby informed workers during a management conference at the time.
The huge picture: The most difficult choice Kirby dealt with was the possibility of furloughing all of his employees, “something I never thought I would have to do,” Kirby stated. He likewise believed “there was a good chance” that all domestic air travel would be grounded.
- ” The first month after 9/11, our earnings were down 40%and, by the way, within 6 months, they were down about 10%which was the worst crisis in history,” Kirby stated.
- After the coronavirus pandemic began, “earnings were down 98.5%. And here we are, a year later, and they’re still down 65%.”
- Concerns about the practicality of domestic flight grew as COVID-19 cases appeared in air traffic control towers and supply chain centers, developing a “domino” effect. “The air traffic control system I believe … was extremely near the level where we merely weren’t going to be able to keep flying.”
More than a year into the coronavirus pandemic, Axios is recalling at the week of March 9, 2020– the week prominent leaders were forced to make consequential choices that overthrew our lives and society. Sign Up For Axios Re: Cap here
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