United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has shared his annual Memorial Day message with employees, thanking servicemembers who made the ultimate sacrifice, veterans, and all United employees. In his 2025 remarks, Kirby also called the United States “the greatest country in the history of the planet” and gave employees a pep talk for the coming summer travel season.

2025 Memorial Day Message From United Airlines CEO

Let’s take a look at Kirby’s remarks via a video shared with employees over the weekend, then I’ll offer some thoughts.

Memorial Day marks the start of the busy summer travel season and this will be our busiest Memorial Day and our busiest summer in history. But I want to acknowledge and thank everyone who’s made the ultimate sacrifice to make the United States the greatest country in the history of the planet. But also all the veterans who are here, and we have many of them, so thank you for your time and service. But I also really want to thank everyone here at United for making us the best airline in the world. You’re doing an amazing job overcoming all the challenges that get thrown our way, and let’s just keep focused on doing exactly that. Take care of each other, take care of the customers, know that we are and are going to be the best airline in this history of aviation. So thank you for everything that you’re doing.

Last year, Kirby also called the United States “the greatest country in the history of Earth” and lauded those who “put their lives on the line to keep this the greatest country on Earth and to be a beacon of democracy, hope, and freedom for the rest of the world,” in his Memorial Day message.

This year, there’s a new administration in power and Kirby has deliberately pivoted United from a carrier that emphasized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and forced a vaccine mandate on employees to a company that has gone out of its way to flatter President Trump and other top administration officials like Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as it seeks to reintroduce slot controls at its fortress hub in Newark and also return to New York JFK via a partnership with JetBlue.

Kirby has used his “biggest” and “best” language to describe United for years, but it is true that United is gearing up for a busy summer travel season:

United is expecting to fly about 3.8 million people this Memorial Day weekend (between May 22 – 28), around 300,000 more than last year.

On average, United is expecting 540,000 people a day to fly United during the Memorial Day Weekend travel period, with the airline operating over 4,600 flights daily (averaging three takeoffs every minute).

Friday, May 23rd was the busiest travel day with 550,000 passengers traveling

United’s top domestic destinations this Memorial Day Weekend are: Orlando (MCO) Las Vegas (LAS) Boston (BOS) San Diego (SAN)

United’s top international destinations this Memorial Day Weekend are: Cancun (CUN) London (LHR) Frankfurt (FRA)

United expects around 50 million people to fly United this June, July, and August, about 3 million more than last year.

This summer, United is inaugurating 17 new flights in total this summer and will offer up to 950 daily flights to and from 144 international destinations in total (including 37 that no other U.S. airline serves).

United is kicking off summer with flights to ten new cities, including: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Kaohsiung, Taiwan (a separate nation from the People’s Republic of China); Nuuk, Greenland; Palermo, Italy; Bilbao, Spain; Madeira Island, Portugal; Faro, Portugal; Dakar, Senegal; Puerto Escondido, Mexico and Regina, Canada.

After initial signs of slowing in March, there seems to be little downturn in travel.

CONCLUSION

Kirby’s “best and largest” language, even calling the USA the greatest nation ever is not new: it is a recurring theme in his Memorial Day speeches and indeed many of his speeches. As United gears up for a very busy summer travel season, it is playing a game of cheese in New York City, hoping to solidify its dominance in Newark while also returning to JFK.

image: @scottkirby / Instagram

After reports that domestic demand and consumer confidence was on the decline, airlines are gearing up for what might be one of their busiest summers yet.

The airline industry is expecting another record-breaking Memorial Day weekend and summer, an indication that demand could be ticking back up.

The Federal Aviation Administration said that the peak for Memorial Day weekend flights was Thursday, with nearly 54,000 flights that day. The agency added that it expects flight numbers to steadily grow this summer and reach a peak at the end of July.

American Airlines said it will operate 38,000 flights during Memorial Day weekend, with the busiest days being Thursday and Friday.

The Fort Worth-based airline is expanding its summer schedule by 5% and is debuting new routes to Athens, Madrid, Milan, and Rome. The most popular destinations for American customers are London, Orlando, and Boston, the company said.

United Airlines said it expects to fly 3.8 million people for Memorial Day weekend, around 300,000 more than last year.

Around 50 million people are expected to fly United this summer, an increase of about 3 million compared to last year, the Chicago-based carrier said.

For the upcoming long weekend, United said it will operate over 4,600 flights daily and Friday will be its busiest day, with 550,000 passengers expected to travel.

United said its most popular international destinations for Memorial Day weekend include Cancun, London, and Frankfurt. Customers flying to Frankfurt connect with Lufthansa to travel to other European cities through the Star Alliance network, the carrier said.

The top domestic destinations for United are Orlando, Las Vegas, Boston, and San Diego.

Will Economic Uncertainty No Longer Impact Airlines?

The sunny summer forecast comes after airlines reported a tepid outlook for the year due to economic uncertainty brought on by tariffs, declining consumer confidence and a sinking stock market.

Multiple airlines, including Delta, American, Southwest, and Alaska, pulled their 2025 guidance and cut their first quarter forecasts.

However, international and premium travel has been a bright spot for the industry. United chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella said during an earnings call April 16 that high demand for international travel had offset softness in domestic travel.

Domestic airfares had also started to fall as a result of softer demand. Airlines had too many domestic seats but are now paring back capacity to better match with demand.

However, domestic airfares were up for Memorial Day weekend, indicating that demand was increasing, according to a May 5 report from Deutsche Bank.

What am I looking at? The performance of airline sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including network carriers, low-cost carriers, and other related companies. The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more airlines sector financial performance. Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.