United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby knew he needed to prepare for a global pandemic after watching how quickly the coronavirus spread in Italy — even as he was told he was overreacting.
Why it matters: In an interview Sunday with Axios Re:Cap, Kirby remembers how last March he started writing personal letters to the families of employees who died from the virus and trying “to put myself as much as possible in the shoes of the people” receiving the notes.
What he’s saying: “The first time we were told we had lost someone in Newark, I remember it. It was in March, we had a number of employees on ventilators, you know, we had such a big employment base in New Jersey and I asked, you know, if I could get the address for the family and get some cards to send condolences to them,” Kirby said in an exclusive interview with Axios.
- “If you do that, if you feel that, it makes a difference in the…
