United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on the Cheeky Pint podcast, hosted by John Collison and Ben Thompson, on 27 October 2026 how the airline looks for destinations that other carriers overlook. As an example he cited a trip by Patrick Quayle, who heads global network planning: "He, this year, took a trip to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan."
What exactly Kirby said
According to him, United cannot currently operate flights there: "We can't fly there today because we can't fly over Russia." The host remarked that the idea could work, and Kirby replied: "This could work down the road." The transcript does not use the term "Central Asia".
What the statement does not contain
Kirby did not name cities, US airports, aircraft types, dates or a timeline for a decision. This is not a route announcement: the company has announced neither flights nor sales plans. It is not disclosed what Quayle's trip showed or whether other countries in the region are being considered.
Regional context
According to international publications, Uzbekistan Airways currently operates between Central Asia and the US (Tashkent–New York). We reported separately on flights by Kazakh carriers to the US: on 27 October it became known that Kazakhstan's Aviation Administration and the US TSA discussed Air Astana's security programme, passenger data transfer and an airport assessment before flights begin, but there is no approval decision yet.
Our assessment: this is a signal that a US carrier is studying the region, not preparation for a launch. The main condition was named by Kirby himself: Russian airspace. While it stays closed to United, any flights depend on other factors the company has not disclosed. For Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan this is a useful sign of attention, but sales and infrastructure cannot yet be planned around United flights. This is flycentralasia's conclusion, not a statement by United Airlines.
What businesses can do. Airports in Tashkent and Almaty and tour operators should follow United's statements and not build these flights into plans. Tour operators working with inbound traffic from the US would do well to collect demand data from the US: this is exactly the data a carrier needs for a decision. Regional airlines with US plans should note that competition for direct flights will not be limited to national carriers.