Let them eat cake!

I'm always astounded when executives at major public corporations - surrounded as they are by aides coaching them what and what not to say or do, and when and where to say (or not) or do (or not) - do something that's completely wrong-footed.

Such was the recent sitch with United CEO Scott Kirby and his amazingly tone deaf decision to not fly United.

As have most other airlines, United has been plagued of late by delays and cancellations. Weather. Cascading scheduling glitches. Air traffic controller shortages. And, at United, internal problems. The last week in June was particularly dreadful:

The airline [had] canceled more than 3,000 flights since Saturday [June 24th] stranding thousands of customers. On Friday [June 30th] as of the evening, United had 979 flight delays, or 34% of its operations, and 234 canceled flights, according to FlightAware. (Source: CNN)

It's been a mess, exacerbated by the fact that Americans, still getting back in the post-covid travel swing, are rarin' to go on vacation somewhere, anywhere.

Scott Kirby no doubt had somewhere he really wanted to get to.

Kirby was trying to get from the New York/Newark area to Denver, Colorado. 

But how to get from Point A to Point B if your flight's delayed ad infinitum, or even canceled?

Well, you can rent a car, but Newark to Denver's a pretty far piece. Over 1.700 miles as the crow - or a United plane - flies. That's a lot of driving, even if you can find a rental car at the airport.

There's always Uber, but that might be pretty pricey. And you might get bored by your driver after all that time stuck in a car with them.

The train isn't exactly direct.

And who wants to spend all that time bumping down the highway on a Greyhound.

I'm sure that Kirby carefully evaluated all these choices, which he no doubt weighed and found wanting. But then, being a smart guy and a successful executive, Kirby landed on a pretty attractive option: private jet.

The airline confirmed Kirby flew from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Denver, Colorado, on Wednesday, and that the company did not pay for his

flight. Teterboro is about 17 miles from Newark, New Jersey, where one of United’s largest hubs is located and which was the center of the airline’s meltdown this week.

The "company did not pay" kinda-sorta suggests that this wasn't a business trip, but a pleasure kind of thing. Kirby's a graduate of the US Airforce Academy, which is in Colorado, so maybe he wanted to reunite with his old stomping grounds. Maybe he has a summer place in the mountains. Maybe he just wanted to getaway. 

And he's plenty wealthy, so why not hire a private jet? 

What's the point of having money if you can't spend it where and when you want to?

Fly in haste, repent at leisure.

In a statement, Kirby said he regrets that his actions distracted from the professionalism of United employees.

“Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” Kirby said in a statement. “I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days – often through severe weather – to take care of our customers.”

Twenty years ago, no one would have known that Kirby had skipped town, leaving the hoi polloi to sprawl out on cruddy terminal floors, trying to get a bit of shut-eye. Living off of handfuls of trail mix purchased with their $12 meal voucher. Let them eat donuts! Let them eat cake!

But in this age of social media, caveat executive. "They" see you when you're sleeping. "They" know when you're awake. "They" know if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.

Look, there's really and truly nothing wrong with what Scott Kirby did. Who among us wouldn't take care of business and/or pleasure if we had the means?

But the age of social media is unforgiving. Which Scott Kirby learned the hard way. (Or maybe not. Maybe he just learned that it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.)

I hope he at least got to enjoy his downtime in Colorado.