United Airlines cancelled almost 3,000 flights this week leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
But United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby didn’t have to endure the chaos. Instead, on Wednesday he hopped on a private plane to get out of the New York area faster than his customers.
Kirby has now apologized saying in a statement, “Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home. I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days — often through severe weather — to take care of our customers.”
AP reports, “Kirby blamed disruptions in Newark last weekend on a shortage of Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers. He said in a note to employees ‘that the FAA frankly failed us’ by reducing the rate at which planes could arrive and depart the airport, where United is the dominant carrier.”
Pilots at the airline aren’t buying it and criticized Kirby saying he has known this was coming for months.