联合航空CEO Kirby公开表态支持全民财富税，属个人政治观点评论、无公司基本面增量

United Airlines Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby defended his support for a national wealth tax that’s been lampooned by conservative politicians, arguing that the current system unfairly allows the richest Americans to accumulate fortunes without paying taxes on investment gains.

“It’s not a policy advocacy, but I just think that the basic concept is one of fairness,” Kirby said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. “If you’re wealthy enough, you can have passive income, you can just make an investment and the laws are set up that you literally never pay taxes on all that growth that can happen. And that just feels unfair to me.”

The executive first floated the idea in an interview with the New York Times published Oct. 18. He was asked about growing public distrust of corporate executives and whether he felt a responsibility to counter it.

“We should have a national wealth tax — it won’t work by state because people will just move,” he told the Times.“I would pay them.”

His comments drew rebuke from conservatives like Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, who suggested the executive should “simply cut a check” himself, according to a post on X.

Kirby pushed back Wednesday when asked whether he would be willing to redistribute some of his own fortune to United employees earning far less than he does.

“Of course not,” he said, “Even if Elon Musk decided to do it, and he’s a trillionaire, it’s not enough to make a difference,” Kirby said.

Instead, he advocated for changes to the tax system that would capture more of the appreciation in wealthy Americans’ assets while reducing the burden on wage earners.

“The more fair system is, some way of taxing that wealth growth, whether it’s a wealth tax or some other way of doing it, and lower income taxes,” he said.

The debate comes as Kirby navigates mounting financial pressures at United, which this week forecast weaker-than-expected earnings for the final three months of the year as soaring jet fuel prices erode airline profits.

Read More: United Misses Estimates, Squeezed by Soaring Jet Fuel Costs

The Chicago-based carrier expects adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 50 cents to $1.50 a share, below the $1.88 analysts had anticipated on average, after fuel expenses surged 61.6% to $4.84 billion during the previous quarter.

Kirby also called for compulsory national service, arguing that Americans should do more to address the country’s long-term challenges rather than leave them for future generations.

“We need to stop punting some of our problems to the next generation,” he said. “I have seven kids. I care about what the country is going to be like for them.”