United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has publicly accused Boeing and Airbus of tacitly agreeing not to invest in new aircraft designs, arguing that the absence of competitive pressure between the two manufacturers has left airlines without the aircraft they need. He made the remarks during a podcast appearance alongside John Collison and Ben Thompson, according to View from the Wing and Live and Let's Fly.
What United Airlines CEO Kirby Said
Kirby's frustration centres on what he describes as a mutual reluctance by both manufacturers to commit to genuinely new programmes. "We need a third aircraft manufacturer, to be blunt," he said. In his view, only fresh competition from an entirely new entrant would force Boeing and Airbus back into the business of designing clean-sheet aircraft.
His remarks were not abstract. Kirby said he has been asking for a replacement for the Boeing 757 for more than 20 years. View from the Wing reports that Boeing stopped producing the 757 in 2004, leaving a gap in the medium-range, narrowbody market that neither manufacturer has fully filled with a purpose-built successor.
The 757 Problem
The 757's combination of range, capacity and the ability to operate from shorter runways has made it difficult to replace. United has moved to bridge the gap: Live and Let's Fly reports that the airline ordered 50 Airbus A321XLRs in December 2019 to begin retiring its Boeing 757-200 fleet. Airbus advertises the A321XLR with a range of up to 4,700 nautical miles, as Live and Let's Fly notes, and View from the Wing reports that Airbus delivered the first A321XLR to Iberia in October 2024. The type is entering service, but Kirby's comments suggest he does not regard it as a complete answer to what the 757 once offered.
You can explore the aircraft types at the centre of this debate using our Aircraft Search tool.
United's Bet on a Third Way
United is not simply waiting. View from the Wing reports that the airline announced an investment and conditional purchase agreement with JetZero in April 2025. JetZero is developing a blended-wing-body aircraft, a configuration that sits well outside the tube-and-wing orthodoxy that has defined commercial aviation for decades. The move aligns directly with Kirby's argument: if the established duopoly will not build the aircraft airlines want, United is prepared to back someone who might.
This fits a pattern of Kirby using his platform to make pointed public arguments. We have previously covered his call for a wealth tax and compulsory national service, remarks that drew attention well beyond the aviation industry.
It is also worth noting the context for Boeing specifically. We have reported separately on the Boeing 777F production gap that followed a supplier dispute, a reminder that Boeing's near-term manufacturing challenges remain substantial even before any question of new-programme investment arises.
The Bottom Line
Kirby's accusation is unusually direct for a sitting airline CEO. Whether or not one accepts his characterisation of the situation as collusion, the underlying point carries weight: two manufacturers hold the commercial aviation supply chain, neither has launched a clean-sheet narrowbody in a generation, and airlines dependent on ageing fleets are running out of options. United's JetZero agreement suggests the airline is treating the problem as structural rather than temporary.
This article draws on reporting by View from the Wing and Live and Let's Fly.
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