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May 6, 2017
05/17
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mr. kirby: chairman blunt, senators, thank you for the opportunity to address the subcommittee on this important matter today. my name is scott kirby and i'm the president of united airlines, here today representing our 87,000 employees. on april 9, our airlines broke the public's trust in an incident that should have never happened. i apologize again to dr. dao, his family, to every passenger on flight 3411 and to all our customers and employees around the world, and i'm very sorry for our company's inadequate response to the initial incident. no customer should have ever been treated the way that dr. dao was. we promise to complete a full analysis of what happened on flight 3411, including where we fell short, and the actions we needed to take to change the customer experience at united. one week ago today, we released a report, which identified four key failures. first, we called on law enforcement when a safety or security situation did not exist. second, we booked crew at the very last min
mr. kirby: chairman blunt, senators, thank you for the opportunity to address the subcommittee on this important matter today. my name is scott kirby and i'm the president of united airlines, here today representing our 87,000 employees. on april 9, our airlines broke the public's trust in an incident that should have never happened. i apologize again to dr. dao, his family, to every passenger on flight 3411 and to all our customers and employees around the world, and i'm very sorry for our...
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May 4, 2017
05/17
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mr. kirby. >>> good morning, my name is sharon pinkerton, the senior vice-president at airlines for america. we appreciate the opportunity to be here today. we want the traveling public and this committee to know that the nation's airline are listening. like you, we found the events that transpired around the april 9 ins department unacceptable. the industry fully accepts that it's our responsibility to ensure that such behavior and disrespect of a passenger can never happen again. we also know that deep regret and apologies, however sincere, are no substitute for meaningful solutions and action. to meet that responsibility, our carriers immediately reviewed why and how this situation developed and, importantly, where necessary, are making systemic changes based on that review. and these aren't ysuperficial changes. just a few examples of the concrete steps that a variety of carriers are taking, completely eliminating or reducing overbooking, ensuring that no passenger is involuntarily removed
mr. kirby. >>> good morning, my name is sharon pinkerton, the senior vice-president at airlines for america. we appreciate the opportunity to be here today. we want the traveling public and this committee to know that the nation's airline are listening. like you, we found the events that transpired around the april 9 ins department unacceptable. the industry fully accepts that it's our responsibility to ensure that such behavior and disrespect of a passenger can never happen again. we...
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May 12, 2017
05/17
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>> we agree. >> mr. kirby. >> yes, ma'am, we'll absolutely look forward in engaging with you and your staff on all these issues. >> thank you. mr. greenberg, do you have comments or thoughts on the tickets act? >> yeah. we support the tickets act. i think it offers a lot of very positive benefits to consumers including the issue not allowing involuntary bumping, eliminating limits on the compensation for bumping, limiting overbooking practices which we talked about a while ago. we don't understand why overbooking happens and requiring appropriate disclosures by the carriers. we think it's a great bill and look forward to working with you on it. >> thank you. because my time is running down and it's been a long day, i will submit my other two questions for the record. i just did want to note not only do i share the concerns about whether overbooking is still a policy that makes sense in this day and age, i'm very concerned that airlines have had policies that bump the passengers who with either aren't frequent
>> we agree. >> mr. kirby. >> yes, ma'am, we'll absolutely look forward in engaging with you and your staff on all these issues. >> thank you. mr. greenberg, do you have comments or thoughts on the tickets act? >> yeah. we support the tickets act. i think it offers a lot of very positive benefits to consumers including the issue not allowing involuntary bumping, eliminating limits on the compensation for bumping, limiting overbooking practices which we talked about...
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May 6, 2017
05/17
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mr. kirby: i'm not sure, congressman. rep. defazio: but there are some? mr. kirby: right. rep. defazio: you're talking about zigzags on that. again, in looking at this, it seems to me the most frequent cause of that now is inadequate capacity. for instance, everybody wants to land about the same time, so then you have to start flying zigzags to get there on radar approach because you can't land more than one plane at a time when you've only got one runway or two planes if you've got enough separation. so, and you know i recommend the , article to you. i know you're advocating privatization and to others advocating it. , you really should read this article. he says don't overpromise. he's particularly critical. mr. mcgee do you have any , comments along those lines? right now, we're hearing about customer issues and that. we're hearing about concentration of the industry and very little choice for people, particularly in the 55 or so airports that are one and 150 that are 50% more than one airline. the question now if we give control to air traffic of the airlines, effective con
mr. kirby: i'm not sure, congressman. rep. defazio: but there are some? mr. kirby: right. rep. defazio: you're talking about zigzags on that. again, in looking at this, it seems to me the most frequent cause of that now is inadequate capacity. for instance, everybody wants to land about the same time, so then you have to start flying zigzags to get there on radar approach because you can't land more than one plane at a time when you've only got one runway or two planes if you've got enough...
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May 9, 2017
05/17
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mr. kirby that you are sent here as the president number two to be the sacrificial lamb. it ought to be your ceo who i know personally and who is a wonderful person and who has overcome great personal medical challenges and was beginning to get such a good reputation but anybody who has served in the military understands that the captain of the ship is in fact responsible and it ought to be the ceo and for the life of me barring any safety reasons, security reasons which was certainly not the case here no passenger should ever be treated like this on an airline. now i understand that you have made several changes following the incident and we all appreciate those efforts, but this is a subtext and day for telling of larger issues because the airline industry in this country has become anti-competitive and consumers are being hurt in the process. taught to most any passenger and they feel like they are being treated as self loading cargo. rather than the way they should be as self, very valued c
mr. kirby that you are sent here as the president number two to be the sacrificial lamb. it ought to be your ceo who i know personally and who is a wonderful person and who has overcome great personal medical challenges and was beginning to get such a good reputation but anybody who has served in the military understands that the captain of the ship is in fact responsible and it ought to be the ceo and for the life of me barring any safety reasons, security reasons which was certainly not the...
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May 5, 2017
05/17
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mr. kirby, the april 9 incident had a big impact on united airlines and frankly the entire industry. how confident are you the steps you and your company are taking will actually prevent another incident from occurring? >> thank you. i'm highly confident the situation that occurred cannot happen again. the policies would not allow it to happen again. but, we are going to take it beyond that. we have used this to be a watershed moment for united airlines. and go beyond preventing this from happening and to truly put the customer at the center of what we do and hope this will have a silverlining we believe it will make us a better airline today than we were before. by the change of focus. >> there are always and we know this factors that are outside your control. consumers to have an expectation they will get what they pay for when they buy an airline ticket. as a follow-up to that, what steps is united taking to more generally improve but can sometimes be a stressful travel experience for custom
mr. kirby, the april 9 incident had a big impact on united airlines and frankly the entire industry. how confident are you the steps you and your company are taking will actually prevent another incident from occurring? >> thank you. i'm highly confident the situation that occurred cannot happen again. the policies would not allow it to happen again. but, we are going to take it beyond that. we have used this to be a watershed moment for united airlines. and go beyond preventing this from...
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May 6, 2017
05/17
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mr. scott kirby, the president of united airlines. mr.oseph sprague, senior vice president for external relations for alaska airlines and mr. bob jordan and executive vice president and chief commercial officer of southwest airlines, and senior vice president of customer experience for american airlines and mr. william j. mcgee and aviation consumers union. i look forward to hearing your testimony and to working with you in the coming months and i ask that our witnesses' full stapts be included in the record and without objection, so ordered. since your written testimony has been made part of the the committee asked that you would limit your oral testimony to five minutes and with that, mr. munoz, you may proceed. >> microphone. >> thank you, chairman schuster. >> and you might want to pull it a little closer to you. >> thank you, sir. better? >> yes, sir. >> thank you, and ranking member defazio, thank you as well as all members of the committee. we thank you for the opportunity to address the committee on this as equally important matte
mr. scott kirby, the president of united airlines. mr.oseph sprague, senior vice president for external relations for alaska airlines and mr. bob jordan and executive vice president and chief commercial officer of southwest airlines, and senior vice president of customer experience for american airlines and mr. william j. mcgee and aviation consumers union. i look forward to hearing your testimony and to working with you in the coming months and i ask that our witnesses' full stapts be included...
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May 3, 2017
05/17
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mr. kirby answered a question a few minutes ago, i would ask for continuity purposes invite him to answer, as well. >> it would be -- it would lead to dramatic improvement, we believe, over time for people to fly faster and get to destination faster, which does put more slack and more capacity into the system. probably wouldn't have given what happened at a different airline for that, but it would lead to overall improvement for customers because we could spend less time with the airplanes in the air and on the ground and more time getting the customer there quickly. >> if it increases capacity, would you then just supply and demand tend to meet, would you just increase loads again? >> well, it's likely we would increase flying at that point over time, and that, i think, would still be really good for customers, as we increase flying. you know, fares, supply and demand on that side. as supply goes up, fares tend to go down and we can carry even more customers every year. >> mr. jordan, southwes
mr. kirby answered a question a few minutes ago, i would ask for continuity purposes invite him to answer, as well. >> it would be -- it would lead to dramatic improvement, we believe, over time for people to fly faster and get to destination faster, which does put more slack and more capacity into the system. probably wouldn't have given what happened at a different airline for that, but it would lead to overall improvement for customers because we could spend less time with the...
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May 4, 2017
05/17
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i am sorry mr. kirby that you are sent here as the president and being the sacrificial land as your ceo. >> he has over come a great, personal, medical challenges and was beginning to get such a good reputation but anybody who served in the military understands that the captain of the ship is in fact responsible. and it august to be the ceo. for the life of me, barring any safety reasons and security was not the case here. >> no passengers should ever be treated like this on an airline. no y now, i understand that you made several changes following the incident and we all appreciate those efforts. but, this is a sub text and a for telling of larger issues because the airline industry in this country have becoming anticompetitive and consumers are being heard in the process, talk to most passengers and they feel like they are being treated as self loading cargo rather than the way they should be as self-very valued customers. they feel taken advantage of and they're getting sick and tired of it. you talk t
i am sorry mr. kirby that you are sent here as the president and being the sacrificial land as your ceo. >> he has over come a great, personal, medical challenges and was beginning to get such a good reputation but anybody who served in the military understands that the captain of the ship is in fact responsible. and it august to be the ceo. for the life of me, barring any safety reasons and security was not the case here. >> no passengers should ever be treated like this on an...
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May 2, 2017
05/17
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mr. kirby has been in the industry for 20 years and i thought this committee deserved a more exacting knowledge base. if i could -- >> sure, absolutely. >> thank you, chairman schuster. as we've talked about, this incident was not driven -- the incident on united was not driven by overbooking. overbooking is much in the news about this. it's important to understand that most of our oversale situations are driven by operational restrictions. the largest being weight restrictions because of weather. so for example, when you're at an airport and there's snow or ice, or even wind and weather, at a departuchero arrival, we'r not able to take our normal load. sometimes we have to deplane 20 to 30 people. that's the vast majority of our oversale situations. m as for overbooking we use it to accommodate thousands of customers. we had an incident in mumbai where an airplane went out of service on landing and we had to replace the engine which takes a while in india. we had to cancel the return flight. w
mr. kirby has been in the industry for 20 years and i thought this committee deserved a more exacting knowledge base. if i could -- >> sure, absolutely. >> thank you, chairman schuster. as we've talked about, this incident was not driven -- the incident on united was not driven by overbooking. overbooking is much in the news about this. it's important to understand that most of our oversale situations are driven by operational restrictions. the largest being weight restrictions...
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May 2, 2017
05/17
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back to mr. kirby. you said that, you know, you talked about how you can use overbooking to help people. how about just a policy that in routine reservations, you would never, never overbook, you would never sell more than 100% of the seats for routine, day to day booking, not to accommodate people because of a change in plane for something else, but just on a day-to-day basis. i mean, southwest is doing that. >> sir, we still thinks that helps us accommodate -- >> yeah, but it also helps you get to these load factors, and then of course you have your change fees. let's go to contracts of carriage. how about a simple disclosure? i mean, this is united's contract to carriage. this is just for fares. if you look at the print here, you know, very user-online, you're supposed to read this before you buy your ticket. how about a distilled-down, simple-language disclosure. would any of the airlines agree to do that, post that, make it available to people? i see mr. sprague nodding his head. >> we would acknow
back to mr. kirby. you said that, you know, you talked about how you can use overbooking to help people. how about just a policy that in routine reservations, you would never, never overbook, you would never sell more than 100% of the seats for routine, day to day booking, not to accommodate people because of a change in plane for something else, but just on a day-to-day basis. i mean, southwest is doing that. >> sir, we still thinks that helps us accommodate -- >> yeah, but it also...
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May 2, 2017
05/17
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mr. kirby said that united does interline, but i want to read from united's contract with carriage. it states upon sole discretion and the passenger's request -- the passenger has to know this is in the contract and request it, and i actually think this is one of the better interlining -- statements about interlining or one of the better things in the contract of carriers of any of the airlines. so, maybe we have to go back to rule 240. that says then an airline delayed or cancelled flights have to transfer a passenger to another carrier. the second carrier could get the passenger to its destination more quickly than the original airlines. let me say this, i know that you will gouge each other in this type of situation. so, maybe we put in there that some sort of restriction on how much one airline can charge and others in that situation. but it seems to me if we want to help passengers out and protect passengers, this is not to go after the airlines. if we want to protect passengers, to have t
mr. kirby said that united does interline, but i want to read from united's contract with carriage. it states upon sole discretion and the passenger's request -- the passenger has to know this is in the contract and request it, and i actually think this is one of the better interlining -- statements about interlining or one of the better things in the contract of carriers of any of the airlines. so, maybe we have to go back to rule 240. that says then an airline delayed or cancelled flights...
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May 4, 2017
05/17
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mr. kirby said that united does interline, but i want to read from united's contract with carriage. it states upon sole discretion and the passenger's request -- the passenger has to know this is in the contract and request it, and i actually think this is one of the better interlining -- statements about interlining or one of the better things in the contract of carriers of any of the airlines. so, maybe we have to go back to rule 240. that says then an airline delayed or cancelled flights have to transfer a passenger to another carrier. the second carrier could get the passenger to its destination more quickly than the original airlines. let me say this, i know that you will gouge each other in this type of situation. so, maybe we put in there that some sort of restriction on how much one airline can charge and others in that situation. but it seems to me if we want to help passengers out and protect passengers, this is not to go after the airlines. if we want to protect passengers, to have these types of agreements require perhaps the types of agreements that this is the way to m
mr. kirby said that united does interline, but i want to read from united's contract with carriage. it states upon sole discretion and the passenger's request -- the passenger has to know this is in the contract and request it, and i actually think this is one of the better interlining -- statements about interlining or one of the better things in the contract of carriers of any of the airlines. so, maybe we have to go back to rule 240. that says then an airline delayed or cancelled flights...
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May 2, 2017
05/17
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. >> sure, there are many practices and procedures and one of the reasons mr. kirby, he's been in the industry for 20 years and widely recognized as an expert in this field and i thought this committee deserved more exacting knowledge base and so if i could -- >> sure, absolutely. >> thank you, chairman shuster. as we've talked about, this incident was not driven, the incident on united was not driven by overbooking but overbooking is much in the news about this. and it's important to understand that most of our oversale situations are driven by operational restrictions. the largest being weight restrictions because of weather. so for example, when you're at an airport and there's snow or ice, or even wind and weather, at either the departure or arrival airport we're often not able to take a full load of customers to meet our safety parameters. >> discussion not just about the united episode but ongoing practices regarding overbooking. you might wonder what that does to margins lodge term. alaska, american and united are all up about 1% to 2%. david faber out at the
. >> sure, there are many practices and procedures and one of the reasons mr. kirby, he's been in the industry for 20 years and widely recognized as an expert in this field and i thought this committee deserved more exacting knowledge base and so if i could -- >> sure, absolutely. >> thank you, chairman shuster. as we've talked about, this incident was not driven, the incident on united was not driven by overbooking but overbooking is much in the news about this. and it's...
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May 29, 2017
05/17
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mr. trump's son if law and senior adviser did in fact try to create a secret line of communication with the kremlin. let's discuss with correspondent, analyst and specialist, john kirbynow, "the washington post" reported that he met with the russian ambassador to the united states. michael flynn was also in that meeting and desire was to set up this very strange secret communication channel through the russian embassy in washington directly to the kremlin. how strange would that be? >> we don't know it's true. we need to caveat that. if it's true, it is extraordinary. it either shows an epic level of ignorance and naivete, or a suspicious of incredible proportion about the concerns of the obama administration. or maybe both, i don't know. if it is true, it is very troubling. >> you would think that someone like michael flynn, former head of the intelligence agency, an business guy, real estate guy from new york city, young guy with no government experience, you would think that if he was in all of this, and he was, that he would understand exactly what you just said. >> absolutely. hardly -- no one is smarter on intelligence that i work with and know personally than
mr. trump's son if law and senior adviser did in fact try to create a secret line of communication with the kremlin. let's discuss with correspondent, analyst and specialist, john kirbynow, "the washington post" reported that he met with the russian ambassador to the united states. michael flynn was also in that meeting and desire was to set up this very strange secret communication channel through the russian embassy in washington directly to the kremlin. how strange would that be?...
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May 22, 2017
05/17
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kirby. he served as a a spokesperson for both the state and defense departments during the obama administration. and cnn politics reporter ed tor at large. let me begin with a little sound from mrmpaign trail. roll it. >> people taking the fifth amendment. four people plus the guy illegally did the server. >> that was september. is this another case of the president's past tweets or remarks on the trail? >> it is. he says and does many things that he then says and does the exact opposite and has little price to be paid. but when you say things like that, i think donald trump is channel iling what the bulk of e public thinks about when someone pleads the fifth. obviously, local reasons to do so of what most peel are pleading the fifth. for donald trump, no direct issue here with flynn. though what flynn knew when e he knew it, what donald trump knew about michael flynn, remember this is one of the first guys donald trump hired. this is one of his closest al allies. this is a guy on november 10th that president obama warned trump against. now he's pleading the fifth. after a number of issues prior. so i think the biggest issue for trump in the near term is the judgment. why was m
kirby. he served as a a spokesperson for both the state and defense departments during the obama administration. and cnn politics reporter ed tor at large. let me begin with a little sound from mrmpaign trail. roll it. >> people taking the fifth amendment. four people plus the guy illegally did the server. >> that was september. is this another case of the president's past tweets or remarks on the trail? >> it is. he says and does many things that he then says and does the...
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May 17, 2017
05/17
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mr. trump spoke to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in a telephone call last night. his office saying the only thing discuss was president trump's upcoming visit to israel. joining me is john kirbye saying all is well in the relationship. i wonder, though, you've been on trips like this before. will the president and his team get a different, more critical message in private? >> i think it's possible that at lower staff levels they might hear a little bit more. i want to caveat by this by saying i don't know what the third party nation was that provided this to the white house that was divulged to the russians. it's possible that they could hear it at the lower level. i doubt seriously it would come up in face-to-face meetings with president trump and benjamin netanyahu. it probably would have already occurred by other means but i don't think it will be a major sort of issue when they sit down to talk. >> i notice with interest today, i'm sure you did as well, president vladimir putin, generously offering to provide a transcript of the meeting to help out the president. it struck me that this was state-sponsored trolg state-sponsored trolling by the russian president. >> i'm not
mr. trump spoke to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in a telephone call last night. his office saying the only thing discuss was president trump's upcoming visit to israel. joining me is john kirbye saying all is well in the relationship. i wonder, though, you've been on trips like this before. will the president and his team get a different, more critical message in private? >> i think it's possible that at lower staff levels they might hear a little bit more. i want to caveat...
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May 2, 2017
05/17
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mr. oscar munoz and scotty kirby who was the president of united airlines. live coverage here on c span3. if you miss any you'll be able to watch later today on cspan.org and we'll reair it on the cspan networks tonight. >>> i would ask members of the press to settle down a little bich bit. we will get started here any minute. >>> i want to recognize for a motion. i move that the chairman be authorized to declare recess during today's hearing. >> all of those opposed say nay. the motion is agreed to. i first want to start with thanking all of the witnesses here today. i accepted our invitation to testify on this oversight hearing on the airline customer service. we invited all of them to participate. you are the brave few regarding the treatment of passengers. our travel can be a stressful experience as many of us knows we are passengers. many knows we are passengers on a twice a week basis. anyone who flies knows getting on a plane can be stressful. getting to the airport, checking in, getting to your security, ask rattle the most seasoned traveler. the who
mr. oscar munoz and scotty kirby who was the president of united airlines. live coverage here on c span3. if you miss any you'll be able to watch later today on cspan.org and we'll reair it on the cspan networks tonight. >>> i would ask members of the press to settle down a little bich bit. we will get started here any minute. >>> i want to recognize for a motion. i move that the chairman be authorized to declare recess during today's hearing. >> all of those opposed say...