American’s No. 2 exec departs for United

Airline President Kirby takes same role with rival

DALLAS - The president and No. 2 executive at American Airlines is leaving to take the same job with rival United Airlines.

United Continental Holdings Inc. said Monday that Scott Kirby has been named president and will oversee operations, sales and other duties.

Kirby, 49, was often seen as a likely successor to American Airlines CEO Doug Parker. Instead, he will add airlineindustry expertise to United’s management. The Chicago-based airline is led by Oscar Munoz, a railroad executive who became CEO less than a year ago.

American Airlines will replace Kirby with operating officer Robert Isom.

Kirby has been Parker’s co-pilot since the two joined Tempe-based America West Airlines in the mid-1990s and were widely regarded as a top-notch team, with Parker the big-picture thinker and gregarious face of the airline and Kirby the brash, brainy, revenue guy who was unapologetic about fees when they began in earnest in 2008.

Together they engineered America West’s merger with US Airways in 2005 and US Airways’ merger with American in 2013. The merged airline’s headquarters moved to Fort Worth, with Kirby, Parker and the former US Airways management team relocating there.

Kirby, an avid hiker who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, was a regular participant in the America West/US Airways/American management team’s Halloween costume parade in front of employees. Among his getups: singer Keisha, a member of performance troupe Blue Man Group and, last year, Taylor Swift. Republic travel writer Dawn Gilbertson contributed to this report.