The Wall Street Journal just ran an article about United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, and about how the carrier has been trending upwards under his leadership. The piece starts with an interesting story about Kirby, which I didn’t know, and can’t help but share.
In this post:
Kirby used to be a serious gambler, counted cards
I had no clue that Kirby used to be a gambler, and that he has even been banned from many casinos around the globe:
Before he started in the airline industry, and long before he was the CEO of United Airlines, Scott Kirby was a serious gambler.
He taught himself to count cards, raking in money on trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas. To this day, he brags about getting kicked out of casinos all over the world. He’s still on the banned list in hotels up and down the Vegas Strip.
A few years ago, he walked into the Bellagio during Super Bowl week and headed for the high-limit poker table. To set up a line of credit, Kirby handed over his ID. As he waited for his chips, a manager approached. The chief executive of one of the world’s largest airlines was told that he was welcome to spend his money on poker or any other casino game—but not blackjack.
“It’s been at least 15 years since I’ve played,” Kirby said. “But I’m in the database.”
For those not familiar, card counting in blackjack is about trying to keep track of how many of each type of cards have been played in a deck, to maximize your odds of coming out ahead. If you’re smart about it, it’s one of the few ways you can come out ahead in a casino. Of course casinos don’t like this practice, hence the bans.
The point of that anecdote is that nowadays Kirby doesn’t have to be in a casino to place a bet, and instead, can do so by running one of the largest and most successful airlines. That “bet” has been turning United into an airline that people actually like, and it has proven to be a great strategy.
The story is worth a read in general, but I don’t think there’s much in there that will surprise OMAAT readers who have been following the industry. This quote from Kirby — “the more we invest, the more we win,” is quite the contrast to how American has spent its past decade, as it’s now trying to play catch-up.
Kirby is quite the interesting industry character
Kirby is a quirky guy, even beyond the above anecdote. The 58-year-old has seven kids, reads for three hours per day, and takes a 20-minute nap at work every day. And somehow he does that while very successfully running the US airline that has been most transforming itself.
You can’t help but respect his drive for success. It’s rare to seen an airline executive so focused on bringing their airline to the top of the industry.
At the same time, being honest, he’s not necessarily the industry’s most likable guy. He’s also clearly largely driven by revenge against his former employer, American. And I also think a lot of the statements he makes don’t necessarily reflect reality, but instead, reflect the narrative that best positions his airline. Which, I guess that’s not totally wrong, but he’s not quite as reliable of a narrator on the industry as some other folks.
Also, I’m reminded of when Kirby appeared on the Airlines Confidential podcast, and was asked about which other airline executives he looks up to. He said none, and instead, he just learns from the mistakes of others.
But hey, Kirby sure has come a long way from the America West days. If you asked me 15 years ago who would turn around United, Kirby would’ve been nowhere close to the top of that list. So good on him!
Bottom line
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby used to be a big gambler back in the day, and even got banned from many casinos for card counting. The WSJ ran a story about this, and how the new “bets” he’s placing are at United, with its transformation. He’s quite the guy, between that, the number of books he reads, and his daily nap at work.
Put him together with the Pres who loves huge mergers, so expect something to happen with United uniting with some other big company
Well, shareholders can rest easy that he's got a good head for math, then.
I hope the investment mantra continues even when dealing with the next down cycle for the economy and airlines. It's easy to say you're prioritizing the customer experience when revenues are growing and your board is happy with profitability. When faced with sustained margin pressure from oil prices, a new FA contract, and a drop in demand, execs quickly turn back to cost cutting mode, even if that damages the ability to recover fast when...
I hope the investment mantra continues even when dealing with the next down cycle for the economy and airlines. It's easy to say you're prioritizing the customer experience when revenues are growing and your board is happy with profitability. When faced with sustained margin pressure from oil prices, a new FA contract, and a drop in demand, execs quickly turn back to cost cutting mode, even if that damages the ability to recover fast when demand picks back up.
I will say on a recent flight (this month) I finally had an edible meal in Business class. So hopefully that investment is making its way to catering...
So, a serious question comes to mind...
A lot of casinos are tied up with major hotel chains now (e.g. Bellagio is in with MGM, which is in with Marriott) . I'm wondering if Kirby could use United's hotel contacts to force MGM to pull him off the ban list (essentially telling Marriott HQ "Either I'm being dealt in for some blackjack or you're losing X room nights across your system").
1. Interestingly Lucky himself is banned from United Airlines due to a mileage or frequent flyer program issue many years ago.
2. What is your source for this article? If I were Kirby, I’d sue you for defamation.
1. If you were Kirby you wouldn’t read this blog
2. Try reading the first four words
Learning that Scott Kirby was a card counter just raised my respect for him several notches.
I hope that his man-cave has a bunch of ban letters on the walls from all the casinos from which he's been banned as proof that it's not that hard to beat the big. bad casinos at their own game.
Must be embarrassing to be casino top brass and have to admit being afraid of one man using nothing but his mind to beat them in their own house at their own game.
This is getting weird. It’s almost like attempting to create ‘celebrity’ around CEOs, instead of just operating their respective companies well. Maybe, the valuations of said companies are all just hype, attention, nonsense; or, perhaps, Scott needs to refocus on running the airline… I much prefer relatively ‘boring’ leaders who get the job done. Not whatever this is. Reality TV. Call it TDS, but I think he’s to blame.
I concur. People valorize the c suite too much as it is. Talking of business "empires". Calling some of them "moguls" and such. They're businesspeople, high end merchants. While we do live in a modern world largely run by capital, it's only when the chips are down that these self-styled business emperors realize that money never beats real raw power.
Only thing I can say, I used to fly united regularly, but since Kirby took over I would rather walk then set foot on one of his planes... NEVER UNITED AGAIN
Is that you, Jeff Smisek?
good on Ben for featuring yet another side of an airline exec.
The real comments are that he admires no other exec and that he believes that by investing the most at UA, he will win the most which implies that he will certainly lose a lot as well.
As much as he has helped UA move from its decades of underperformance, UA has lost a lot in a number of strategies and isn't overperforming ALL of its competition just yet
Nah, I’m no fan of Kirby, but this is silly gossip. Like, will the blogs soon find and post bad photo of Ed from his youth? It’s pretty lame.
Like, while we’re distracted with this, airlines are failing, the market is consolidating, frequent flier programs are devaluing, workers and consumers are getting screwed. But, hey, look at Scott!!!!
and yet you responded to it.
THAT is Ben's business
As did you! Oh no... we're keeping it going, aren't we? Bahaha... *stirs the pot*
Kirby should have to count the number of group one people in every United flight for a week. I flew 1st on United and was about the 48th person to board, never knowing that group one consists of most of the traveling public.
Card counting is an art as well as mathematical ability to comprehend complex situations. Kirby is a genius and I think most ignorant folks don’t understand the skill as they have never gambled before in their lives!
United has surely had been a turnaround and their technology is generations ahead of Delta or American. None of those have abilities to make changes with ease as the United app
Did Delta pay you for this article?? Can you post an article about a B minus Ed Bastian got his freshman year of college or would that make it so Delta didn’t pay for your free lame as Delta One flight puff pieces any more? Or if Ed Bastian’s driver drives 66mph in a 65mph zone every day to get him to work. Ed must be such a bad CEO for driving so fast to...
Did Delta pay you for this article?? Can you post an article about a B minus Ed Bastian got his freshman year of college or would that make it so Delta didn’t pay for your free lame as Delta One flight puff pieces any more? Or if Ed Bastian’s driver drives 66mph in a 65mph zone every day to get him to work. Ed must be such a bad CEO for driving so fast to work every day. Your articles are so boring those days. They actually used to be fair and good. Just work for delta and get paid by them already and call it a day.
@ Adam Amos -- I'm not sure how you think this is a pro-Delta article? I totally respect Kirby for this, and I find it to be a funny story. It's not intended to be negative toward him.
Lucky, there was a big thread on r/united just yesterday about female FAs discriminating against female passengers in J, including 1K/GS. If Kirby wants to invest, he can start with customer service.
Ironically the consensus there favors gay male FAs as the best, senior female FAs as the worst. Wonder if you’ve come across similar patterns.
Ah little Scotty Kirby. Glad he's banned from casinos. He's man who hopped on a private jet while his airline canceled thousands of flights. The man who says low cost carriers want to screw the customer while he segments and gouges his customers. The highest paid airline CEO who doesn't mind his own employees barely scraping by. The man whose over expansion strategies have let to delays and reliability issues that he then blamed on...
Ah little Scotty Kirby. Glad he's banned from casinos. He's man who hopped on a private jet while his airline canceled thousands of flights. The man who says low cost carriers want to screw the customer while he segments and gouges his customers. The highest paid airline CEO who doesn't mind his own employees barely scraping by. The man whose over expansion strategies have let to delays and reliability issues that he then blamed on others. A man who is (as Ben noted) fueled by a desire for revenge.
He's also got the moral spine of a jellyfish (wokest airline CEO one minute, MAGA-man the next). What a maroon.
Empires have been built on revenge. Let’s not be so hasty.
He’s perhaps all of those things, but not only those things.
Founds his mug shot!
https://oregonsurveillancenetwork.com/?s=Kirby
Not strictly a "mugshot", since he's done nothing illegal. Using your smarts to extract money from slimy, low-life, bottom-feeding scumbag casino operators who exploit Joe Public for a living should be something we all celebrate.
Your hating is probably more amusing than you think, but probably not for the reason that you think. Thank you.
@ Jay -- Sorry, that's directed at me? I'm hating?
@Ben Schlappig
You are not hating anyone. You are doing your job. Scott Kirby is becoming a joke. United's success is making Kirby ignorant day by day. It seems like Kirby is the new Karen.
Agreed. Kirby came in when Munoz had just turned United around from a laughingstock to an up and coming airline. Guess who got the props for that? Then Kirby started on his super weird public statements that are clearly lies. Tariffs are wonderful for the economy? United is the best airline in history? Stuff like that makes the guy look like an oaf.
Is UA paying people for these puff pieces or something? The excessive jerking off of Scott Kirby and United is wild.
United is simply an average airline at best by global aviation standards. The Polaris seat they have on 99% of their fleet is average, to even below average in 2026. Their in-flight service and food offerings are extremely mediocre to the point of becoming a running joke.
The amount of praise that's been given...
Is UA paying people for these puff pieces or something? The excessive jerking off of Scott Kirby and United is wild.
United is simply an average airline at best by global aviation standards. The Polaris seat they have on 99% of their fleet is average, to even below average in 2026. Their in-flight service and food offerings are extremely mediocre to the point of becoming a running joke.
The amount of praise that's been given to UA over these last few years would make you think they were a top airline, when the reality is they can't even touch carriers like ANA, EVA, JAL, etc.
100% true. Couldn't agree more with you.
Yes, it would have made more sense for the WSJ to do a profile on airline business executive Juichi Hirasawa, Sun Chia-Ming, or Mitsuko Tottori, because their businesses have outsized impact to the U.S. and U.S. economy.
As much as I believe I would enjoy a profile on Mitsubishi Totoro, they appear not to see the need to pay for a leadership profile in this periodical.
So I guess it’s there or nothing, and the article was not poorly written. Just my two cents.
In case you haven't noticed, the WSJ is an embarrassment compared to what it was in the past; very little hard business news, way too much political coverage that is better done by others, and lots of news equivalents of fast-food McNuggets.
Dawn Gilbertson's columns are the worst - seems like she's always weeks late on breaking points and miles and travel news and I'm sure she's reading all the heavy hitters like OMAAT before...
In case you haven't noticed, the WSJ is an embarrassment compared to what it was in the past; very little hard business news, way too much political coverage that is better done by others, and lots of news equivalents of fast-food McNuggets.
Dawn Gilbertson's columns are the worst - seems like she's always weeks late on breaking points and miles and travel news and I'm sure she's reading all the heavy hitters like OMAAT before she writes her column.
The editorial board is still excellent but that's small consolation.
I wouldn't even read it if my subscription wasn't a free perk of holding an Amex Platinum Card.
+1
Let's be honest here for a minute: Kirby is a complete weasel. He has the morals of Stalin on a bad day and doesn't care about anything except what helps him personally or gets back at AA. He's done a passable job following the trail Oscar Munoz initiated at United but between the stupid lies he perpetually spews and his generally childish antics he's not the grownup in the room.
I can’t in anyway shape or form see card counting as cheating. Holding a simple statistical model in your head is a skill, and if it upsets the laws of probability to ensure the house doesn’t always win, so much the better.
Hats off to him.
Exactly!
Courts have ruled it's not illegal (since you're only using your mind), but private businesses can still ban you.
And I agree, hats off to him. It's consistent with his personal brand of being a numbers guy.