Originally Posted by
mecabq
In my opinion it was unfair to criticize Kirby for taking a private jet. I am sure that he usually takes UA and probably other airlines, as previous posters have mentioned, but there are times when a cost-benefit analysis (given the CEO's average hourly compensation) would suggest to fly private instead of wasting time.
For every person who criticizes him for being "out of touch," someone else would criticize him for wasting time and being inaccessible on board a commercial plane when the company was dealing with operational challenges if he chose to fly UA instead. Or for a PR gesture instead of deciding the best way to be effective in his job. Damned either way. The media just wants to play "gotcha" however it can.
I agree. I apply the same standard to CEOs of other large companies as well. If the guy's time is worth $5000 per hour, it's in the company's best interest if he isn't stuck on the ground in Newark. I have no idea why he needed to go to Colorado, and it's really none of my business. But, since going there was a done deal, doing so quickly makes the most sense. I'm not moved by the "that's bad optics" argument. (I'm talking about the jet thing only, here, by the way...not about his blame shifting, which I did find to be in poor taste.)