United Airlines CEO faces rightwing backlash after calling for US wealth tax

Read the original at The Guardian ↗
Cite

Gupta, G. (2026, October 20). United Airlines CEO faces rightwing backlash after calling for US wealth tax. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/oct/20/scott-kirby-united-wealth-tax-backlash

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-10-20 · by Gaya Gupta

Quick Summary

Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, faced backlash from conservative figures after advocating for a national wealth and inheritance tax in an interview with the New York Times. Critics like Glenn Beck and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry called for boycotts and criticized Kirby’s $32 million annual earnings, while highlighting ongoing debates over similar proposals such as California's "billionaire’s tax." The article highlights the political polarization around discussions of wealth inequality and corporate responsibility.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-20, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, sparked controversy after calling for a national wealth tax and high inheritance taxes during an interview with The New York Times. Kirby, who earned $32.3 million in fiscal year 2025, argued that growing wealth inequality poses a threat to American society and suggested a nationwide approach to prevent wealthy individuals from relocating to avoid paying such taxes. His comments have drawn backlash from conservative politicians and commentators, including Glenn Beck and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, who criticized Kirby for his high salary while advocating for increased taxation on the rich.

Written for “United CEO Calls For Wealth Tax” on 2026-10-20, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans left for article 94524 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-20

Story

📰 United CEO Calls For Wealth Tax
Economy/Business · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 12% hedged 2 of 16 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles report on United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby's call for a national wealth tax and high inheritance taxes during an interview, addressing growing public distrust of CEOs.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
69/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 1480 article(s) · 4 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 4 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Gaya Gupta
6 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “We should have a national wealth tax – it won’t work by state because people will just move,” he said.
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🔮 In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for the McDonald’s corporation said that that the “complaint is filled with inaccuracies and we will vigorously defend against this lawsuit”.
🔮 All investment decisions are made entirely by independent managers.” The July disclosure comes as Trump and the Republican party continues to champion a ban on stock trading among members of Congress, which would exclude him from any restrictions.
🔮 Though the merger was approved by the justice department in June, a coalition of 12 states, led by California, had sued over concerns that combining two of the five last legacy studios in Hollywood would “extinguish competition” and lead to fewer movies in theaters and on streaming platforms.
Also by Gaya Gupta
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 6 articles by Gaya Gupta →

Topics

@united Fox Business Kirby United Airlines the New York Times

Subjects

Kirby PERSON · 6× @united ORG · 2× United Airlines ORG · 2× Fox Business ORG · 1× Fox News ORG · 1× Glenn Beck PERSON · 1× Jeff Landry PERSON · 1× Scott Kirby PERSON · 1× the New York Post ORG · 1× the New York Times ORG · 1×

Narrative

When asked about the $70 passengers must pay to sit in an aisle or window seat if they aren’t a frequent flyer with United, Kirby responded that “the way to give everyone what they want is to charge for the services and products that those customers want,” adding: “There are customers that pay more that get more.”
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-20
🔮 “We should have a national wealth tax – it won’t work by state because people will just move,” he said.

Claims (17 extracted, 1 hedged)

Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, is under scrutiny from conservative politicians and commentators for saying wealth inequality is a “danger to society” and calling for a national wealth and inheritance tax in a recent interview. asserted
inequality → say → interview
Talking to the New York Times, Kirby was asked about the growing public distrust of CEOs and whether he felt any responsibility to quell that distrust. asserted
he → talk → distrust
“We should have a national wealth tax – it won’t work by state because people will just move,” he said. asserted
he → have → state
“And I think we should have inheritance taxes that get close to 100% at some level. asserted
that → think → level
I would pay them.” asserted
I → pay → them
In response, headlines from Fox Business and the New York Post decried that Kirby made $32m in 2025. asserted
Kirby → decry → 2025
In response to Kirby’s comments, Glenn Beck, a former Fox News host, and other users on X called for a boycott of United Airlines. asserted
Beck → call → Airlines
Jeff Landry, Louisiana’s governor, said the statement was “audacious”. asserted
statement → say → ?
“How audacious from a guy that didn’t even build @united and makes $32 million a year,” he wrote on X, adding a link to a government website to donate money to the government. asserted
he → build → government
“Better yet, he should distribute his salary to the employees at the bottom of the ladder @united!” asserted
he → distribute → ladder
“Let’s see you step up and place your money where your mouth is!” Landry added. asserted
Landry → see → money
The comment comes just two weeks before voters in California will decide on a so-called “billionaire’s tax”, which would put a 5% tax on the state’s billionaires, that the wealthy have been spending millions fighting against. asserted
wealthy → come → millions
Kirby was also asked about the rising cost of flying and said that high prices this year were being compared to the “artificial low” prices from the pandemic, which largely halted travel and highly disrupted the airline industry. asserted
which → ask → industry
“We have to charge enough that it covers the cost of flying, and it’s expensive to fly airplanes,” he said. asserted
he → have → airplanes
When asked about the $70 passengers must pay to sit in an aisle or window seat if they aren’t a frequent flyer with United, Kirby responded that “the way to give everyone what they want is to charge for the services and products that those customers want,” adding: “There are customers that pay more that get more.” asserted
that → ask → more
Kirby also maintained that fares were still lower than in 2019 after adjusting for inflation. asserted
fares → maintain → inflation
According to data from the labor department, the index for airline fares increased by about 20% from September 2019 to September 2026, while overall consumer prices increased by 31%. uncertain
prices → accord → %
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