With 7 short words, the CEO of United Airlines just taught a brilliant lesson in leadership

One advantage of writing about airlines and business for a long time is perspective. I’ve been covering United Airlines since before the pandemic, which means I’ve been able to watch how CEO Scott Kirby responds when things get difficult. Back then, I was struck by how Kirby often sounded different from some of his competitors — most notably Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian. I’m not going to say one was wrong and one was right, but they were different: Kirby’s a...