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Key Takeaways United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby limits himself to no more than four hours of meetings a day.
He expects “conversational” meetings instead of meetings based on PowerPoint presentations.
Kirby spends roughly three hours a day reading books, newspapers and magazines.
Scott Kirby fiercely protects his time. The 59-year-old United Airlines CEO limits his schedule to a maximum of four hours of meetings a day, pushing back on the norm of CEOs in back-to-back, marathon meetings.
When he does make time for a meeting, he expects a real exchange of ideas. He doesn’t want a presenter reciting a PowerPoint presentation that everyone can read for themselves in their own time; he wants to talk.
“My meetings are also quick, and my meetings are almost all conversational,” Kirby said in a recent interview with Semafor.
By keeping his calendar under control, Kirby devotes more attention to the strategic decisions he considers more important.
“The further you go in your career, certainly by the time you’re the CEO, your job is not to work hard; it’s to think hard,” Kirby said. “If you’re spending your time looking at yesterday’s detailed metrics, you’re doing the wrong thing.”
Kirby received $32.3 million in total compensation for 2025, making him the highest-paid airline CEO last year. He has to make bets years before passengers see the results, from aircraft orders to route planning.
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