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Speaker 1: All right, let's get back to the airline conversation and

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Speaker 1: get to the IATA AGM and World air Transport Summit.

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Speaker 1: Guy Johnson is there with a guest guy.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much.

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Speaker 3: Indeed Denny with Joe by Scott Covey here is the

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Speaker 3: CEO of course, all unite it Scott, nice to see you,

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Speaker 3: Nice to see you in person.

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Speaker 2: Great to be here, and Parson we get together. How

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Speaker 2: is Memorial Day weekend? How strong is them on right now?

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Speaker 4: Well, demand was very strong and operations are really strong.

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Speaker 4: You know, Memorial Day week in both for United and

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Speaker 4: for the industry at large was one of the if

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Speaker 4: not the best ever Memorial Day weekend. And as an

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Speaker 4: industry we're off to strong start operations. We've really staffed

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Speaker 4: up and invested heavily.

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Speaker 3: He's sustainable, so everybody's got great visibility over the summer.

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Speaker 3: Everybody's talking about a fantastic summa.

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Speaker 4: Then wals yeah, you know, I think demand is sustainable

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Speaker 4: and is going to continue. We see just a structurally

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Speaker 4: higher level, particularly of leisure demand.

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Speaker 5: You know a couple of reasons for that.

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Speaker 4: One hybrid work makes every weekend a holiday, gives people

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Speaker 4: more time if you're working in the office three days

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Speaker 4: a week, you have.

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Speaker 5: More time to travel.

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Speaker 4: But I also think coming out of COVID, it's spending

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Speaker 4: two years on lockdown, people take will no longer take

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Speaker 4: for granted their ability to travel and experience.

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Speaker 2: You think that stuff will sticks.

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Speaker 3: What I'm really trying to figure out is have you

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Speaker 3: figured out what the new normal post pandemic actually looks like.

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Speaker 3: We're still in an environment where the consumers still got

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Speaker 3: money and it's pocket's post COVID.

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Speaker 2: The labor market's still strongest all the day to Friday?

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Speaker 2: Is this is this real?

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Speaker 1: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: And how long does it last?

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Speaker 4: For well, fifteen months ago people were saying the same thing,

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Speaker 4: and it's just gotten stronger. Okay, So I do think

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Speaker 4: this is the new normal, and that's why I think

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Speaker 4: the structural reasons are important. The hybrid work, making every

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Speaker 4: weekend the holiday gives people more time to travel, and

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Speaker 4: the fact that people now appreciate travel more than you

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Speaker 4: could take it for granted before, and people don't take

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Speaker 4: it for granted. I think those are two structural changes

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Speaker 4: that it's structurally higher.

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Speaker 2: Business coming back more slowly.

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Speaker 4: Though business is coming back more slowly, my view is

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Speaker 4: actually the US economy is is any business or session

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Speaker 4: the consumer remained strong. But we're in a business and

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Speaker 4: we see that in our business traffic. But you can

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Speaker 4: also see it in the kinds of companies that sell

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Speaker 4: to businesses. And you know, who's doing well who's not.

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Speaker 4: Business is probably in technically that's technical, and we think

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Speaker 4: it's twenty to twenty five percent below where it will

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Speaker 4: ultimately be. You know, and we're producing We're going to

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Speaker 4: hit our guidance this year. We're producing really good numbers,

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Speaker 4: really good margins in a world where business travel is

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Speaker 4: behaving receessionary.

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Speaker 2: The Bloomberg banner has been blown over.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, that gesticulating too much.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's possible. I apologize for that. That's fine.

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Speaker 3: Which we secure these things more more more strongly. Is

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Speaker 3: the IRA going to give you a competitive advantage over

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Speaker 3: the A lot of the European airlines are complaining to

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Speaker 3: me that they don't have the kind of long term

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Speaker 3: support now that the Biden administration is putting in for

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Speaker 3: you guys.

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Speaker 4: Well, I think the inflation the sustainability portions of the

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Speaker 4: Inflation Reduction Act, some of the most important is passed

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Speaker 4: in decades, and it's going to make a real difference,

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Speaker 4: not just for sustainable aviation fuel, but it's gonna drive

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Speaker 4: all kinds of investments in real sustainability.

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Speaker 5: I think the Europeans should match it. When I talked

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Speaker 5: to people in the.

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Speaker 4: EU, I told them the same thing. The carrots work

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Speaker 4: much better than the sticks. It's what made wind and

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Speaker 4: solar successful. It's the same playbook that wind and solar

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Speaker 4: used thirty years ago to become successful. Everyone around the

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Speaker 4: world should copy the Inflation Reduction Act.

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Speaker 3: Where you may see, where you may not see eye

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Speaker 3: to eye with the federal governments.

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Speaker 2: Is the passenger protections.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the President's at he says the passenger needs great protection.

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Speaker 2: You've come out and said not so much. Yeah. Do

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Speaker 2: you do you still stick by that? Do you think

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Speaker 2: that the passenger of these great protection?

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Speaker 3: At this point, you've almost indicated that safety could be

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Speaker 3: an issue as well.

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Speaker 4: I mean, first, we're running the best airline that we

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Speaker 4: have in history, and the industry is running the.

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Speaker 5: Best it hasn't.

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Speaker 4: We've been massive investments to do the best thing for

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Speaker 4: us to do is take care of our customers. Second

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Speaker 4: point I make is, by far our biggest source of

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Speaker 4: non weather delays is air traffic control. The Secretary acknowledges

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Speaker 4: their three thousand control as short. We're trying to help

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Speaker 4: them fix that with that FAVERY authorization.

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Speaker 5: But the third issue is important. We have the safety issue.

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Speaker 4: We have the safest aviation to save the system, industry

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Speaker 4: and savest aviation system in the world, and that is

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Speaker 4: built on a foundation of safety culture where people do.

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Speaker 5: Not think about costs. It's binary.

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Speaker 4: We tell them safety first, safety everything, and you should

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Speaker 4: not chip away at that foundation.

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Speaker 3: But if the President wants to help the passenger, should

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Speaker 3: he just start up with the FAA.

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Speaker 2: We don't even have a chief of the FAA right now.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, by far, by far, by far.

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Speaker 4: The biggest thing that can happen to improve pastor experience

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Speaker 4: and operational is to get the fa fully staffed.

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Speaker 2: By far, who do you think should be the next chief?

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Speaker 2: Do you have any ideas? Do you got any names

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Speaker 2: for me?

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Speaker 4: I think we should have a permanent head of the FAA,

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Speaker 4: and you know, I'll leave it to the government to

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Speaker 4: decide who that should be. But it really the FAA

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Speaker 4: has massive investment, needs leadership, needs someone in charge, and

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Speaker 4: it's really hard for an interm you know, the poly

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Speaker 4: Trottenburg has become the interim. We are excited about her,

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Speaker 4: you know, very competent, focused, you know, on on leadership

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Speaker 4: and doing the right thing. But I think the FAA

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Speaker 4: and the country deserves a permanent leader.

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Speaker 5: I'm not going to.

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Speaker 4: Say who it should or shouldn't be, but we need

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Speaker 4: a permanent leader at the FAA.

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Speaker 3: Your fast becoming the kind of the the pan Am.

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Speaker 2: Of American airlines.

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Speaker 3: You've got a much bigger international footprint than many of

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Speaker 3: your rivals. That exposes you to all kinds of issues

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Speaker 3: around the world, one of which is the lack of

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Speaker 3: availability of Russian airspace. Yeah, for you, how big a

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Speaker 3: disadvantage is that.

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Speaker 4: It's a really it's a big challenge for us. You know,

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Speaker 4: we were going to five flights a day to India,

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Speaker 4: for example, pre pandemic, and today we're flying one from

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Speaker 4: Newark to Delhi and the other four routes we simply

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Speaker 4: can't make it. The airplane can't fly far enough and

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Speaker 4: even Newark to Delhi is an extra two hours in

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Speaker 4: the air.

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Speaker 5: And so you know, our China.

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Speaker 4: Service isn't back yet, but we wouldn't be able to

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Speaker 4: fly most of our China routes and so it is

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Speaker 4: a big deal.

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Speaker 3: For US federal judge pushing back against the Northeast Alliance

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Speaker 3: JA Blue American Spirit looks like it's going to be

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Speaker 3: a tough lift now for Robin Hayes. Are we done

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Speaker 3: with consolidation?

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Speaker 5: I think we're probably done with consolidation.

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Speaker 2: And that sees you though, isn't it.

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Speaker 4: We don't care one way or another. You know, we

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Speaker 4: got so much good things happening at United.

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Speaker 5: I like that our competitors.

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Speaker 4: Are a little distracted working on those kinds of things,

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Speaker 4: but we're focused on organic growth at United, creating a

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Speaker 4: great customer experience that's working really, really well. We certainly

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Speaker 4: don't want to get distracted with anything to do with consolidation.

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Speaker 3: Okay, I gonna apologize for the banner that's hitting you

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Speaker 3: on the back of that all Okay, as long as

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Speaker 3: we go with that, I'm trying to sabisage you anyway.

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Speaker 2: It's got great to see you.

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Speaker 3: Thanks very much Indeans for having me see you against

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Speaker 3: see Scott Coby, the CEO of United