United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby is quite the guy. It’s not just what he has to say about the industry, but also what he has to say that doesn’t involve the industry. In this case, he’s doubling down on the concept of a national wealth tax, and he’s adding the concept of compulsory national service to the mix.
United CEO has opinions on taxes & national service
Recently, United’s CEO had an interview where he talked about how “wealth inequality has become a danger to our society, and we need to address that,” and he suggested “we should have a national wealth tax,” and “we should have inheritance taxes that get close to 100 percent at some level,” and he “would pay them.” Kirby is of course a very wealthy guy, and he has taken home $84.8 million from his job as United CEO in the past three years alone.
That wasn’t just a one-off statement, but in a Bloomberg TV interview on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Kirby doubled down on his beliefs, and added more to the mix. He explained that “the basic concept is one of fairness,” and that “if you’re wealthy enough, you can have passive income, you can just make an investment and the laws are set up that you literally never pay taxes on all that growth that can happen.”
He was then asked if he would be willing to redistribute some of his wealth to United employees earning far less than he does, to which he responded “of course not,” and that “even if Elon Musk decided to do it, and he’s a trillionaire, it’s not enough to make a difference.”
Kirby argued that “the more fair system is, some way of taxing that wealth growth, whether it’s a wealth tax or some other way of doing it, and lower income taxes.”
Kirby took his comments to the next level, arguing that there should also be compulsory national service, so that Americans can do more to address the country’s long term challenges. He explained that “we need to stop punting some of our problems to the next generation,” while bringing up that he has seven kids, and he cares “about what the country is going to be like for them.”
Is the timing of this deliberate, or what’s going on?
I really can’t make sense of Scott Kirby as a person. He’s obviously very intelligent, and he’s also very open about sharing hot takes that are going to be quite controversial.
What I can’t figure out is if he’s being really strategic and insincere with what he says, or if he’s just sharing his beliefs, and doesn’t care what people think. Regarding Kirby’s proposals on a wealth tax and compulsory national service, that’s not really something we have to debate here, because obviously people will have conflicting takes.
But what I find interesting is how all over the place Kirby has been politically. When Biden was president, Kirby was known for how “woke” he was, and was often criticized for that by conservatives. Then when Trump became president again, he showered him with endless praise. And keep in mind that Kirby floated the concept of a mega merger with the Trump administration, including the possibility of American combining with either Delta or United.
And now Kirby is sharing beliefs that are getting criticism from many people, and in particular, from conservatives. It just so happens to be that we’re also within two weeks of the midterms.
It’s not like someone can’t evolve on politics, and needs to fully be on one side politically. Actually, I think it’s healthy when we can find common ground. But the timing of everything is just so incredibly strange. Is this a deliberate strategy on Kirby’s part, or how do we begin to make sense of this?
Bottom line
United CEO Scott Kirby is now coming out in support of a national wealth tax, as well as compulsory national service. I’m not sure how an airline executive got to the point where he’s constantly sharing such hot takes. But it’s interesting to see him go from being the “DEI” CEO (as he was called by conservatives), to praising Trump so much, to now sharing beliefs like this. It’s all a lot to process.
Maybe since he thinks his job is to think hard rather than work hard, he has a little too much free time to get in trouble? 😉
What do you make of Kirby’s latest comments?
So Kirby's next going to run for president in 2028? Would fit with his ego.
As Bethenny Frankel once said, “go to sleep.” Focus on making United continue doing well and that’s all.
Alongside Delta’s Ed Bastian, Scott Kirby has to have one of the most unlikable personalities of any US airline CEO. What a joke
I’m sure all the losers making 60k a year are going to be triggered by this
"Keep your government hands off my Medicare!" /s
Dear Scott,
Please donate half of your salary to your flight attendants, and see a recruiter about signing your kids up ASAP. Until then, stick to running an airline.
He has seven children?
That's responsible.
Just kidding.
Please stop writing about this guy.
Crazy how far Lucky’s nose is in Kirby’s but……I mean business. If he farts, we hear about it here.
I mean, Scott had dueling NYTimes and WSJ interviews recently, and Matthew Klint literally interviewed Mr. Kirby at the opening of the new Terminal B expansion in Houston, so... I don't think this really a Ben-issue so much as a 'Scott-is-doing-a-lot-of-PR-right-now-in-general' thing.
It'd be swell if airline CEOs could focus on running exceptional operations instead of whatever this distraction is. Like, if we're doing public policy, let's start with air passenger rights legislation, a US equivalent to EU261. (Oh, being told: 'pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!' Yeah...)
You can start a tax on fat cat frequent flyers. All miles are taxed at 50%. You don't pay with money but pay the IRS in miles for the frequent flyer tax. Every year, there's a wealth tax and 10% of your mileage balance goes to the IRS. The IRS can give those miles to Medicaid recipients.
Tax and punish the rich. Make them suffer.
Kill the poor and establish Soylent Green as a common food source. That way we the comfortable don't suffer.
Yes. He is showing himself to be pursuing the philosophers path, not corporate work.