United Airlines - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

United Airlines is High Risk.

United Airlines is High Risk. The company yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. United Airlines embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	High Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	No Data
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	High Risk

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

United Airlines’ HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company will not donate to non-religious charities unless they embrace controversial sexual identity policies (1)(2). The company’s charitable giving focus areas are, “the environment, disaster relief, education, and leadership development for youth” (3). United Airlines canceled a nonprofit discount it formerly offered the NRA after pressure from leftist activists (4).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

United Airlines’ HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company forces employees to attend multiple, controversial trainings on gender identity, sexual orientation, transgender issues, and divisive racial ideology. The company provides gender transition guidelines for its employees and a specific benefits guide with a comprehensive explanation of transgender services funded by the company (1)(2). United Airlines’ CEO Scott Kirby says the company is committed to prioritizing diversity over merit in recruitment and hiring (3)(4). In January 2024, America First Legal filed a letter with the EEOC requesting a civil rights investigation into United Airlines over discriminatory practices in hiring. In November 2024, United Airlines agreed to abandon the discriminatory hiring practices AFL outlined in its case (5)(6)(7). The company does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (8).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

United Airlines’ HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company agrees to allow a controversial stakeholder group focused on sexual identity issues to dictate marketing or advertising strategy. By doing so, the company risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders (1)(2). United Airlines signed an open letter endorsing the Equality Act, a contentious proposal to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act by adding sexual orientation and so-called gender identity as protected categories. The legislation would, among other implications, grant biological men access to women-only spaces such as sports teams and public restrooms, and compel healthcare providers to deliver sex-denying healthcare (3). One of the company’s outreach programs benefiting underprivileged youth raised funds through the sale of a Black Lives Matter lapel pin (4). The company opposed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, which would prohibit teaching gender identity and sexual orientation to kids in K-3rd grade (5). United’s CEO is a member of the Business Roundtable and Former CEO Oscar Munoz signed its 2019 Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, which promotes stakeholder capitalism over traditional obligations to shareholders (6)(7). The company posted a page on its website outlining its multiple LGBT partnerships and advocacy (8). United Airlines has incorporated drag queens into their business and sponsored drag queen shows (9). The company opposed various state and local legislation intended to protect parental rights, girls’ sports, bathroom facilities, and gendered spaces (10)(11). United Airlines opposed legislation in Iowa intended to protect parental rights, girls’ sports, bathroom facilities, and gendered spaces (12). President, Brett Hart, denounced various states’ legislative efforts to protect election integrity and security (13). The company signed an amicus brief in opposition to the 2016 North Carolina bathroom bill HB2, which required people to use the bathroom of their biological sex (14). The company’s CEO, Scott Kirby, signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, which includes a commitment to promote DEI through bias education training in the workplace, strategize on DEI programs/initiatives with other signatories, and engage boards of directors when developing and evaluating DEI strategies (15)(16). United Airlines halted flights between the U.S. and Israel twice during 2025, but resumed flights after the National Center for Public Policy Research took legal action against the airline, concerned that the company’s “suspension of Tel Aviv flights was driven by a variety of improper motives, including anti-Israel union pressure” (17).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

United Airlines’ HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company covers transgender related costs for its employees and their children, including paid short-term leave, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, chest surgeries, genital surgeries, medical visits and lab monitoring, travel and lodging. Additionally, the company has pledged philanthropic support of at least one organization or event that promotes sex and gender ideology. By allowing a political stakeholder group to dictate operations, the company increases health care costs and risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders (1)(2). United Airlines has previously donated to Planned Parenthood (3)(4). The company is a gold sponsor of the HRC and a corporate partner of the NGLCC (5)(6). United Airlines is a Gold Tier corporate sponsor of the Trevor Project, an organization that advocates for controversial sex and gender ideology, including “gender transition” drugs and surgeries for minors, through legislation, litigation, advertising, and PR campaigns. The organization also hosts online chatrooms that allow adults to communicate with minors as young as 13 about sexually explicit topics. Adults in these chatrooms have encouraged minors to adopt transgender identities and withhold this information from their parents (7)(8)(9)(10)(11). United Airlines has also pledged an undisclosed sum of corporate funding to the Black Lives Matter movement and related causes (12)(13). The company has partnered with LGBTQ groups the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay Pilots Association, and Equality Illinois (14). United Airlines is a coalition member of OneTen, appearing to prioritize diversity over merit in its hiring (15)(16)(17). United Airlines is a Bronze Sponsor of NYC Pride (18). United Airlines is a partner of the HRC’s Foundation (19)(20). United sponsored WorldPride 2025 (21). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (22).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

United Airlines’ HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company publicly advocated for controversial sex and gender ideology through local, state or federal legislation or initiatives. By allowing a political stakeholder group to dictate operations, the company risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders (1)(2). The company has not used its PAC donations or lobbying for ideological purposes (3)(4)(5).