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Let’s look at two United Airlines statements released in the past few days. See if you can spot the difference.
The first was emailed to media Thursday evening, after Congress finally voted to end the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security and restore pay to TSA workers:
“We are pleased that Congress finally acted … we cannot allow it to happen again. …
We call on lawmakers to pass bipartisan legislation …”
The second came earlier in the week—United CEO Scott Kirby’s comments on reports of he’d floated the idea of a merger with rival American Airlines:
“I approached American … I thought we could do something incredible for customers …
I always knew that the only way any merger could be successful (and approved) is if it was great for customers and with a willing partner that shared my big, bold vision.”
Also near the end of that same statement:
“(T)he airline industry has always been dynamic and unpredictable … it’s one of the reasons that I love this business.”
What can you do with a B.A. in English?
This is one of the few times that someone with a B.A. in English can flex a tiny bit, I can’t unsee the juxtaposition of
- the rather normal advocacy statement that United put out in the first person plural (“we”), and
- the made-for-the-moment United CEO statement written top to bottom in the first person singular (“I”).
The shutdown statement sounds like every corporate advocacy document you’ve ever read: measured, institutional, the company as a single professional voice. We are pleased. We call on lawmakers.
But Kirby’s merger-no-merger statement is something else. The word “I” appears 12 times. “My” appears twice, including the phrase “my big, bold vision.”
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