CHICAGO— United Airlines (UA) CEO Scott Kirby says the airline should reach a point where flight attendants rarely need to apologize to passengers because the operation and onboard product work as expected.
Speaking on Semafor’s The CEO Signal, Kirby said his goal is to build an airline employees can feel proud to represent while reducing the service problems that place frontline workers in difficult situations.
United has been investing heavily in its customer experience as part of a broader strategy focused on product, reliability, technology and service.
Kirby’s comments suggest that improving those areas should reduce the number of situations in which cabin crew members must handle passenger frustration caused by problems they cannot personally fix.
United Service Strategy Takes Shape
Kirby’s approach places the responsibility for service quality beyond the cabin crew.
Flight attendants can provide attentive hospitality, but they cannot repair a faulty seat, restore a broken power outlet, replace missing catering or resolve an unreliable entertainment system during a flight.
When those problems occur, cabin crew often become the passengers’ main point of contact. Improving the underlying product could therefore allow employees to spend more time delivering hospitality instead of managing complaints and explaining operational shortcomings.
United has already made several major investments in this area. The airline has expanded seatback entertainment across its fleet and is installing Starlink Wi-Fi, while its wider customer strategy also includes new aircraft interiors and digital improvements.
Starlink And Entertainment Drive Passenger Experience
United’s Starlink rollout has become one of its most visible customer-experience projects.
As of September 17, the airline said Starlink was active on more than 560 mainline and United Express aircraft, with more than 31 million passengers having traveled on Starlink-equipped aircraft across over 464,000 flights.
The airline also said it expects Starlink to reach nearly 700 aircraft by February 2027 and plans to continue the installation program through the end of 2027.
Its latest entertainment expansion allows passengers on Starlink-equipped aircraft to watch live professional and college football through seatback screens.
United has also reported strong customer feedback from aircraft equipped with Starlink. Earlier in 2026, the airline said Wi-Fi satisfaction on Starlink-equipped flights was more than twice as high as on its other Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft.
Reliability Remains Key To Service Improvement
Technology alone, however, cannot remove every reason for a passenger complaint. Airlines operate complex systems, and delays, equipment problems, catering issues and other disruptions can still occur even when an airline invests heavily in its product.
United reported that its second-quarter 2026 on-time departure performance was its best second-quarter result since 2021, while Newark recorded its best second-quarter on-time performance.
The carrier also said it achieved its highest second-quarter customer satisfaction score since 2021.
Kirby’s broader message is therefore about fixing problems at their source rather than relying on frontline employees to manage the consequences, Live and Let’s Fly reported.
Flight attendants can still apologize when passengers are inconvenienced, but United’s long-term goal is to create an operation where those apologies are needed less often.
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