Is Scott Kirby Back on the A350 Bandwagon?

I spoke to him this week, and I think United might *finally* take the airplane. Also, Kirby had very harsh words about American's losses in Chicago, and Spirit's future.

Dear readers,

When I spoke to Scott Kirby this week at the APEX Global Expo, he shared zingers about Spirit’s future (Spirit will go out of business because “it’s just math”) and on American’s struggles in Chicago, with the CEO going so far as to estimate exactly how much money he thinks his former employer loses each year in Chicago.

But we’ve heard similar rhetoric before¹ — although this time Kirby offered more specific speculation on American’s O’Hare losses (more on that below). So, I would say the most interesting thing Kirby told me on Thursday was about United’s interest in the Airbus A350. I think United is back in the market for the airplane for real, in part because the engine contract the carrier signed years ago with Rolls-Royce makes the deal more enticing than before.