United Airlines CEO cautions against long closure

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said the federal government shutdown could hurt bookings if it continues.

Despite the funding impasse, essential federal employees, including Transportation Security Administration officers and air traffic controllers, are required to work without pay. The shutdown began Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass a funding bill.

Speaking on an earnings call Thursday, Kirby said the closure has not affected the carrier’s business so far.

“I think for at least the first few weeks people thought the problem would be solved, so they just carried on with business as usual,” he said. “But as time went on, people started reading the headlines and saying ‘this problem is not going to be solved anytime soon.’ People are starting to lose confidence in the government and the government’s ability to solve this problem. That will start to affect bookings.”

Kirby said there was no hard limit on when the airline would start to see an impact, but added: “The risk to the US economy is increasing every day. So I’m hopeful that we’ll avoid an unforced error here.”

Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian last week issued a similar warning about how a prolonged shutdown could affect air travel, but emphasized that the airline’s operations were not affected.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the closure raised concerns that air traffic controllers were already understaffed. Understaffing at some FAA facilities last week disrupted flights at airports including Nashville, Tennessee, and Burbank, California.

Members of the union representing U.S. air traffic controllers distributed fliers at New York’s LaGuardia Airport as well as Washington, D.C. and Chicago on Tuesday, urging the public to ask lawmakers to end the closure.

The shutdown, which began in late 2018 and lasted more than a month, ended just hours after a shortage of air traffic controllers disrupted air travel in the New York area.