Happy New Year!
I hope you had a chance to spend some time with friends and family during the holidays and that you’re as excited as I am about what’s to come in 2023. This is going to be an unprecedented year in the history of United Airlines, and at the center of it all is you, our customers.
We confronted the challenges of the pandemic head-on and emerged on the other side as the leading global airline, embracing the opportunity to move forward a bold plan that includes great customer service, a major upgrade to our fleet, an expansion of the places we fly, a workforce that’s more diverse, and leading investments in innovative, green technologies.
United expects to add more than 500 new planes to our fleet by 2026—and it kicks into gear this year when we’ll average more than two brand-new planes a week! Our new single-aisle planes include seatback screens in every seat, enough overhead room for everyone’s carry-on, Bluetooth connectivity, and the industry’s best Wi-Fi. We’re planning to fly to even more places across the country this year from our major hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
Our new dual-aisle planes, meanwhile, include our United Polaris lie-flat seats and United Premium Plus. In 2023, we’ll fly nonstop to 37 cities in Europe, Africa, India, and the Middle East—more than all other U.S. airlines combined—and we’ll have the most flights of any airline connecting Australia and the U.S.
More planes with more places to go means we also need even more of the world’s best airline professionals to deliver the type of helpful, friendly service you expect and deserve. United hired 15,000 people last year, and we’ll hire 15,000 more in 2023; these are careers with great pay, terrific benefits, and the chance to see the world. We’ll also continue to pave the way for the next generation of talented pilots to fly you where you want to go. We’ll train 5,000 people to become pilots at our United Aviate Academy by 2030, with at least half being women and people of color. And we recently launched Calibrate, a similar program designed for aircraft technicians.
Best of all, we’re building an airline where our employees are proud of where they work—and they want you to feel that same pride when you choose to fly with us.
Lastly, while we’re focused on being the best airline we can be today, we also have an eye on the future and how people will travel in the years ahead. In 2023, you’ll see United continue to be a leader in the use and purchase of sustainable jet fuel—a scalable solution that can help decarbonize air travel and fight climate change. We’ll also continue to pursue investments in electric aircraft, carbon capture technologies, and innovation in supersonic travel, all while increasing the number of items onboard our aircraft made from reusable materials. These efforts are good for our business, good for our planet, and good for our customers.
This is going to be a great year, and we look forward to taking our airline to new heights. From all of us at United, thank you for choosing to fly with us, and from my family to yours, happy New Year.
Sincerely,
Scott Kirby
CEO, United Airlines
