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Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines and a member of the class of 1989 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, returned to his alma mater last year for a Q&A.
He had a line that day that got a lot of laughs, while answering a question about when he thought airlines would have supersonic flights again. Kirby talked about the deal United made to become a launch customer for the supersonic jet manufacturer Boom Overture.
But he couldn’t help adding:
“They have great engineers, but the first time I met Blake [Scholl], who’s their CEO … I told him, you need some help with marketing. … Like, you can’t call an airplane company ‘Boom.’”
Admission: I covered this deal fully five years ago for Inc.com, and yet it never quite occurred to me that yes, “Boom” is in fact a bit of a problematic name for an airplane manufacturer.
Beyond pure amusement, I bring this up because Kirby went back to the Air Force Academy again this week and recorded a United Airlines video that included what I think is another example of intentional, insightful focus on language.
It came when he thanked United Airlines employees for making United, in his words, “the best airline in the history of aviation.”
I’m sorry… in the history of aviation?
I’m all for inspiring the troops, but as quite a few people noticed, claiming as a matter of settled fact that United Airlines is the best airline in all of aviation history is just a wee bit controversial.
Commercial aviation goes back about a century, depending on which airline wants to celebrate its 100th anniversary, and there’s a long list of carriers that would have a very different view of who sits at the top.
Emirates, Singapore, Qatar, ANA, Cathay Pacific—to name a few. Also, there’s the late, great Pan Am, which had flying boats traveling around the world even before World War II.
If you don’t know the story of the Pan Am Clipper that got caught on the wrong side of the Japanese Navy just after Pearl Harbor, it’s not for lack of me trying to share it.
But Kirby is an interesting leader, and in my experience an intentional word-chooser and a student of history. So I can’t help but think he might have chosen that self-congratulatory accolade strategically.
To be clear, he could have said he thought United was the best airline of its era.
Or the best airline in modern American history. Or simply the best it’s ever been.
He reached higher.
And I think the same thing is going on here that I wrote about regarding the CEO of Walmart’s U.S. business, John Furner, and how he sometimes seems willing to hijack any question in any media interview to give the same answer:
“The purpose of the company is to help people save money and live better.”
Over and over and over.
Why do it? Because great leaders appreciate that while they have many opportunities to speak publicly, most of what they say will get lost in the noise.
So you pick a few messages you want your team—and your audience—to hear.
- For Furner, it’s this mantra about the purpose of Walmart.
- For Kirby, perhaps it’s the idea of working to exceed every other airline that has ever existed.
When you tell 100,000 United Airlines employees they’re building the best airline in aviation history, you’re telling them to measure their work against an incredibly high ceiling.
Oddly, of all the CEOs I write about, I haven’t had the chance to meet Kirby in person. If anyone from United Airlines reads this column, I’d be happy to set that up.
But I’ve noticed his penchant for language before.
During the pandemic, he reached for an old line from Winston Churchill—“the end of the beginning”—to frame United’s prospects during an 84 percent drop in passenger revenue.
The through-line is that he seems to pick words for effect, not filler.
I’ve long thought that one intermediate metric for success, if you’re running an organization, is to look at how comfortable your employees are making fun of you.
If one of them could dress up like you for Halloween and quote your most famous lines, then you’re probably doing something right.
Heck, maybe you can even claim to be the best in history.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
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Bill Murphy Jr.
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