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United Airlines faced significant operational challenges following the CrowdStrike outage, yet managed to escape much of the media scrutiny that Southwest and American Airlines encountered. Delta Airlines experienced severe disruptions, exacerbated by its CEO's departure to Paris during the crisis.
United's CEO, Scott Kirby, also went on vacation amidst the turmoil. In a communication with employees and customers, Kirby disclosed that he and his family were traveling through Denver during the worst of the cancellations this past Saturday. However, he did not mention their final destination: Liberia, Costa Rica. This information was revealed through LinkedIn photos shared by the station manager in Costa Rica.
A United Airlines spokesperson confirmed Kirby's destination and stated that his presence was not required for leading the carrier’s recovery after the initial day of outages. "By Saturday morning, our technology was stable and our operation was recovering," said the spokesperson. "The speed of our recovery is a testament to our strong teams and leaders in digital technology and operations. As we shared on Monday, Scott was able to see our operation first-hand in Denver on Saturday and stayed in close contact with our other senior leaders throughout our recovery."
