Coming off a Street-beating quarterly earnings report, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that the rise of hybrid working has created a "new normal" for leisure travel demand, allowing people to book more quick excursions and work from their vacation destinations.
"I think travel demand for airlines is permanently higher -- it's at a higher level," the head of United Airlines ( NASDAQ: UAL ) told CNBC.
Kirby acknowledged that the airline industry faces a headwind in the form of slowing economic growth, with a threat of a recession on the horizon. However, he said that the changing dynamics around remote work have offset this so far by turning every weekend into "a holiday weekend."
"It wasn't money that restrained people from travel. It was time," Kirby argued.
The United CEO said this evolving structure played into its latest quarterly report , which included earnings that easily topped analysts' projections. Meanwhile, revenue was up 13% compared to the pre-pandemic period in 2019.
UAL surged on the news, with the stock climbing nearly 5% in Wednesday's early trading. The results had a halo effect elsewhere in the industry, sparking advances in names like American ( AAL ), JetBlue ( JBLU ), Delta Air Lines ( DAL ), Southwest ( LUV ) and Alaska Air ( ALK ).
For more on United's prospects following the recent quarterly report, see a bullish reaction from Seeking Alpha contributor Stone Fox Capital, who sees "boom prices ahead" for the airline .
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United CEO: Hybrid work has made travel demand 'permanently higher'