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Quest Means Business

Trump to Arrive In U.K. For Historic Second State Visit; Fed Expected To Deliver First Rate Cut Since December; Fed Expected To Deliver First Rate Cut Since December; United Airlines CEO On Newark Airport Changes. Aired 4-4:45p ET

Aired September 16, 2025 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:17]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. The day has been somewhat of a down day on the Dow,

but it is all over the place, really. We had a bit of green in the morning, actually, a very little bit of green. Otherwise, not a huge loss, just a

breather if you will.

Come on sir. One -- oh dear. That is pathetically weak.

Trading is over. Those are the markets and the events that we are talking about. Any moment now, Donald Trump is due to arrive in the United Kingdom.

It is a state visit at a time of upheaval in British politics.

The man suspected of killing Charlie Kirk is charged with murder and could face the death penalty.

And United's chief executive, Scott Kirby tells me his airline will not use A.I. to price its flights.

We are live in New York. It is Tuesday. It is September the 16th. I am Richard Quest and I mean business.

Good evening.

Just a few moments from now, President Trump will land at London's Stansted Airport in the United Kingdom for an unprecedented second state visit. Now

there is the picture, the plane is only a few thousand feet up, so it is any second now, it will be -- or any minute now will be landing. It will

taxi around.

They used Stansted Airport in the east of London, to the east of London, mainly because of good security. It is remote. They can control the

environment and of course it doesn't screw up the rest of Heathrow's traffic as a result.

The First Lady, Melania Trump, is with the President. They are going to go from here, right across London by helicopter, Marine One to Windsor Castle.

Wednesday is a day of pageantry. They meet the King and Queen and then Thursday has talks with the Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The last visit was

in 2019 when he met the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Max is with me.

Max, we are going to get that plane landing any second, any minute now. Tell me what we are expecting and I will interrupt you unless you can see -

- if you can see the runway, you can stop and take it from there.

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, he is arriving. He is a bit late, but not too late and he will arrive on Air Force One. There is a carpet

lining party there. You would often expect to see a Royal there, but that isn't the case this time. There will be a representative for the Royal

family, but mainly local officials, the Foreign Secretary and also the U.S. Chief of Protocol.

So this isn't the official start of the state visit. It is just a pre- arrival, if you like. So landing on Air Force One, Marine One will take the party over to Winfield House, which is at that glorious house, isn't it,

Richard, and in the park in Central London, which is the U.S. Ambassador's residence here. So, spend the night there and then it really kicks off when

he flies over here to Windsor tomorrow for the official state visit.

So he may speak to some reporters. He may say something political, but I think the general view is tomorrow won't be anything about politics. It

will all be about the pomp and pageantry, and we all know how much he enjoys that -- Richard.

QUEST: So, so thank you, Max. He is staying at Winfield House tonight, of course. That was a gift, I think of Barbara Hutton of the Woolworth family

fortune. She gave that to the American people as the Ambassador's residence. So that is where he is staying tonight?

FOSTER: Yes, absolutely. And I don't know what he has got planned for this evening, but he has got an early start tomorrow and a very full day

tomorrow.

I've been speaking to lots of members of the military, Richard, and the palace, in fact and it is extraordinary to see how much they're putting

into this. They are -- it is unprecedented as far as I can see welcome. So three companies will be part of the welcome in the quadrangle up at Windsor

Castle. Normally, only one. There will be six cannons instead of three.

A huge cavalry as well, coming through Windsor Great Park, a great bit deal of sadness, I have to say, in Windsor itself, because there won't be a

procession going through Windsor. The security is so tight. The procession will only take place through the Royal grounds, the Windsor Great Park, if

you like.

So a lot of restrictions here, but a huge amount being put into this by the military, by the Palace, just to show that this is the biggest welcome they

could possibly give to him, and there is going to be lots of things they will be able to talk about tomorrow, which we can point to, which the King

will be able to point to, to show that no one has received a welcome like this in living memory, in terms of state visits, so it truly is a historic

moment, and I don't think we are going to get a huge amount of politics unless Donald Trump starts speaking about it, because everyone I am

speaking to on the American side is saying he really wants to just enjoy this moment, and then on Thursday, when he goes and talks with the Prime

Minister, we will get more of the politics.

QUEST: There is going to be a state dinner where they will be measuring the spaces between the knives and the forks.

[16:05:22]

FOSTER: Absolutely. It will be a huge banquet, extraordinary scenes. We are desperate to see the guest list, but no one is sharing it. We are expecting

some very big -- basically, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. gets half the seats, and then the U.K. gets the other half of the seats, so we don't know

who is getting all the seats. We can guess at a few of them, but some pretty big American names expected there.

And I think we are only going to have it confirmed, really, until they arrive. So that is going to be a pretty exciting moment. We've also got

some other side events, if you like. The Queen will be showing the First Lady around the castle and showing the famous dolls house, which is an

extraordinary attraction here. People love coming to see it, this perfect dolls house.

And also the Princess of Wales will be taking Melania Trump down into Windsor to meet some scouts. So lots of little moments spread over the

course of the day. A few private meetings as well. But it is really going to be about showing the best possible welcome they can to the President.

I think the King's role here really is to just give him the best time possible. And they are rolling the red carpet out in terms of Royal family

members as well. As I understand it, they are all going to be here, certainly at the state banquet, but also during the course of the day, just

expected to be here to answer the President's questions and to really host him in the best possible way.

You know, it is difficult to see moments where the President is quite as deferential as he is, as when he meets members of the Royal family. That

was certainly a link to the Queen, the late Queen Elizabeth, but it seems to have extended to Charles and William as well.

We've got a close up here of the aircraft, so we are wondering if that is Air Force one.

QUEST: It is. It is Air Force One.

FOSTER: It is circling through the area.

QUEST: It is.

FOSTER: Yes. So, you're better to speak to landings, Richard, than I am, but it is coming in to Stansted.

QUEST: Yes, they used Stansted, of course, because of security. It doesn't screw up Heathrow's arrival and departure patterns. Ironically and

completely coincidentally, they also use it for hijacks, by the way, that is where if, God forbid, a plane ever gets hijacked, that's where they send

it in the U.K.

Air Force One has been here many times, along with Marine One. They try not to restrict the air traffic too much. It is simply so congested, the air

traffic over London, but that's why they put them out at Stansted.

The plane is about to land.

Max, you talked about the opportunities for questions, but of course, most of the opportunities for questions with the President come at signings in

the Oval Office, with guests at the Oval Office. There is really not going -- my guess is that neither King nor President is going to create the

opportunity for large scale shouting of questions that the President can then indulge.

FOSTER: No, he is absolutely protected. I mean, Marine One is going to go straight from Stansted to Winfield House, from Winfield House to Windsor,

and then over to the Prime Minister's country residence. He is not going to be on the ground much at all, so very controlled moments with journalists.

I think most of that will come on Thursday during the Royal part of the visit, I think there is going to be very little opportunity. I mean, the

security has been quite extraordinary here.

What I will say from speaking to people at the Palace, is that The White House team has been utterly charming. They've really enjoyed working with

them, which is something that Kensington Palace, Prince William's office also talked about when there was a meeting in Paris last October between

the President and Prince William, saying that they were very easy to work with and they've really enjoyed working with them, and it is almost as if

The White House has almost allowed the Palace to take the lead on this.

I don't know if this is quite the same with the Downing Street moments. I think they've had a lot more control of that, but they are really taking a

back seat and allowing the Palace to control a lot of what we are going to see. Obviously, in constant reference to The White House and a bit of

negotiation around the media moments.

But in terms of what we see tomorrow around the state visit, the official part of the state visit, it is all very much organized by the Palace, and I

was told, an extraordinary story, actually in in Paris about Prince William meeting President Trump about how they were both sitting in these seats and

the President was waiting for the Prince to speak, and the Prince was waiting for the President to speak.

I think this is quite unusual when the President is so used to taking control of moments like that.

QUEST: Max, I am going to pause you there. Stay with me, while the plane taxis in, let's just look at some of the issues that they're going to be

talking about.

President Trump arrives at a time of upheaval -- the anti-immigration protest, the firing of the U.K.'s Ambassador to the U.S. who orchestrated

much of this visit. We will see the President get off the plane, but these are some of the issues. And believe me, if that plane suddenly hurries up,

we will break out of the report from Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): Days before Donald Trump's unprecedented second state visit, one of the U.K.'s

biggest anti-immigrant rallies ever. Right wing and populist, an estimated 150,000 people attended according to Police.

They listened to Elon Musk, among others, rail against the British government.

ELON MUSK, TESLA, CEO: You either fight back or you die.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Not the messaging, the U.K.'s beleaguered Prime Minister Keir Starmer would hope for.

At his meet with the U.S. President seven weeks ago, Trump's spiky about immigration.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This is a magnificent part of the world and you cannot ruin it. You cannot let people

come in here illegally.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much for --

ROBERTSON (voice over): That meet went relatively well, but a lot has changed for Starmer since. His deputy, Angela Rayner, quit over tax

irregularities nearly two weeks ago.

ANGELA RAYNER, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: So help me God.

ROBERTSON (voice over): And last week, Starmer was dragged into the Epstein scandal, firing his Ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, over his

praise for the convicted sex offender.

Starmer's judgment questioned on both counts his biggest political rival, Trump friend, right wing populist, Nigel Farage, joyous.

NIGEL FARAGE, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: I think there is every chance now of a general election happening in 2027 and we must be

ready for that moment.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Small solaces for Starmer, Farage's Reform U.K. Party is nowhere near ready and Trump unlikely to want Epstein mentioned.

ROBERTSON (on camera): But the guild is coming off. Starmer less the winner type Trump likes, appearing more like a leader on borrowed time. His Labour

Party reportedly plotting a replacement, although not until next year.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Meantime, Farage building Republican support at a congressional hearing two weeks ago, trash talking the perceived lack of

freedom of speech in the U.K.

FARAGE: And you would be doing us and yourselves and all freedom loving people a favor if your politicians and your businesses said to the British

government, you've simply got this wrong.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Starmer knows while Trump is starstruck by the U.K. monarchy, his White House is ill-disposed to the government.

J.D. VANCE (R), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat. If you're running in

fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Starmer counting on splashy trade talk announcements to jolly Trump and critics along. Monday announcing a so-

called Golden Age of nuclear cooperation with major new power plant deals to turbocharge the special relationship.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Yes, so this is a letter from His Majesty, the King.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Yet despite his many domestic failings, Starmer seems to play Trump meets just right, praise at home for surviving the

encounters, even bringing home the bacon.

STARMER: This is truly historic.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: There is the plane, which has now taxied onto the apron and we are waiting, obviously. We will stay with this.

Max is with me.

The negotiating of the politics versus the state visit, which was infinitely made more complicated by the Jeffrey Epstein business because at

one hand, arguably, since the former U.K. Ambassador Peter Mandelson is caught up in the same mess as Donald Trump arguably might be with Epstein,

you know, you'd want to keep -- you might have wanted to keep Mandelson there, but that that simply wasn't an option for the British government.

But Starmer is going to be very, very difficult for him with the President on that.

FOSTER: Yes. Mandelson organized -- apparently it was his brainchild this whole second state visit, something to offer President Trump. He was

working really closely with Trump, very successful. Starmer knew he would be a -- he is an arch politician as you know, Richard and Starmer knew he

would be a brilliant U.S. Ambassador. He organized this whole trip.

So for him to be fired last week was a bit of a disaster, but Mandelson's deputy was actually James Roscoe, he has taken over and actually he used to

work at the Palace.

[16:15:10]

So they're in a pretty good position. So we are seeing the steps going up to Air Force One and we are going to see the President and the First Lady

come out, and they're going to be welcomed, Richard, by a red carpet, we assume, which will be out at any moment. We are going to see the Foreign

Secretary, local dignitaries, also, some U.S. officials and a palace official as well, welcome him before he sets off on Marine One over to the

U.S. Ambassador's residence in London, in North London, at Winfield House.

So we might get some images from the other end there as well. I think that's going to be pretty much it tonight.

QUEST: Right. Yes, and what is interesting with these state visits, and I have seen this a couple of times, they really do sort of have a beginning.

And anything that happens before it is sort of just a bit of protocol. But this is classically, you know, they don't want the beginning of the state

visit here. No, that will happen officially when he finally turns up at Windsor, right?

FOSTER: Yes, and there is a moment where there is a gun salute. Cannons go off and that will happen when he has arrived here at Windsor. That's the

official start of the state visit. But in terms of, you know, giving him the full treatment here, they have sent members of the military as well to

Stansted, so what have we got here? The King's Color Squadron, the Royal Air Force is going to be there. They didn't need to be there, but the

military has even sent them there to give as much pomp to the President as possible.

As you say, they didn't need to do it at this point, it is really just an administrative arrival. This isn't part of the state visit, but it feels

like one and this is what makes everything about this visit so unprecedented -- Richard.

QUEST: And yet, by the same token, the complete inability of the members of the general public to get anywhere near to it, I mean, whether it would be

carriages up the mall, whether it would be whatever, yes security is a reason, obviously, particularly bearing in mind the Charlie Kirk murder,

but they didn't want anybody. They just don't want this to go wrong.

I think I can sum -- we can pretty much further sum it up as that.

FOSTER: Yes, so President Macron recently came for a state visit to Windsor Castle, and he went in a carriage through the streets, and there were

glorious pictures of the crowds out, French flags, British flags. That won't be the case here, even though it is really restricted area, they

could have probably locked it down, but they've decided not to, you know, some suspicion that this is really about protecting the media from seeing

protests. I was speaking to a very well-known political editor earlier on. He said, you know, Donald Trump has never been so unpopular in the U.K. as

right now.

So if there was an opportunity for him to be in carriages going past the public, they're concerned, frankly, that that will create some negative

imagery and they're trying to protect him to that extent.

The public don't seem too concerned about the special treatment that he is getting, the way he is being held back from them, but I think there are

going to be some -- we are going to see some big demos, particularly tomorrow, Richard in London around that.

And you mentioned Epstein association with Mandelson, maybe that came into this debate as well about whether he should go -- should have gone before

this visit. We saw a massive photo of Trump and Epstein rolled out on the outside the castle here today. It was pretty quickly brought back in by the

police, but there is definitely a bit of, you know, you know, this is all about protecting the President on this visit, making sure it is not

embarrassing him in any way.

QUEST: Do you think -- you're as much of an astute observer of British public and political life, as well as the Royals, Max, do you think the

British public understand -- I am not talking about the demonstrators, but the vast majority, the man on the Clapham Omnibus, as we used to say. Do

you think they understand that this is something that Starmer just has to do in the national economic interest of not of putting Britain in the best

possible position with a difficult, maverick president who could take out economic retribution if he wished.

FOSTER: I think it is interesting. I mean, Brits are very close to America, they see how that relationship works for the U.K. I think, you know, when

we talk about the trade deals that come up, perhaps during this visit, they're not going to be huge deals for the U.S., are they? But they are

important to the U.K.

I think the British public actually separates the U.S. from Donald Trump. He is very unpopular here, all the polls for years have suggested that and

you just get it anecdotally as well. But the relationship with America is so intertwined. You know, we are going to see some military moments

tomorrow where you see how the U.S. and the U.K. military operate as one.

So many of the institutions are tied together, and I think the British public feels that. So I think they separate the two, but I think he is

deeply unpopular here.

[16:20:09]

But they are also, you know, becoming more right wing here as well if you look at the politics.

QUEST: And here we have the President and the First Lady, and already we sort of see a tone set the President is -- I don't think he was wearing his

winter overcoat when he left Washington, at least I don't remember seeing him wearing that as he climbed on Marine One. And the First Lady seems to

be a bit more dressed in a coat being met by the protocol.

Max, jump in with those -- with information that you may have about the trip.

FOSTER: Yes, that's the U.S. Chief of Protocol, Ambassador Monica Crowley. So the American representative there in the line -- the carpet lining party

as well, although you'll notice there is no carpet, so not quite carpet lining party.

I don't know if there was a problem there. We were expecting one. The new Foreign Secretary there shaking hands with President Trump as well. She is

very new into her job, and then we move on to members of the military as well. There is chief exec of the airport. There is also the local police

chief and the local council chief as well for Essex.

So Essex is obviously outside London, so these are the normal protocols. And then we are also seeing the members of the military that have been

invited along to give this sense of pageantry to what is an administrative welcome. So he will then go on to a Marine One and head over to the U.S.

Ambassador's residence.

So not a huge moment in this state visit, but the fact that he has come for the second time and this has never happened before, I think is really on

display here. And Melania Trump as well, the First Lady, I am told that she has been very excited about this visit. There has been a huge amount of

effort put into what she is going to wear, what sort of engagements she is going to be involved in as well.

So I think this is really about President Trump's position on the world stage, and as Nic Robertson talked about the way he is so starstruck by the

British monarchy as well.

QUEST: And interestingly, it looks like they may be walking across the helicopter. I've often seen them -- yes, they are getting a car and drive

20 feet to a helicopter. But here, they're obviously going to walk straight across, as you rightly point out, no pomp and ceremony at the airport. This

really is, welcome, your bags are on their way to your residence. Please get on the helicopter and go and get a good night's sleep.

And this is by far and away the quickest and most efficient way to get the President -- because I do know, because I -- you know, very familiar with

where Winfield House is in Regent's Park and when the President moves from Winfield House, it is, I believe, after Buckingham Palace, it is the

largest private garden in London. Somebody will probably say that I am wrong.

Max, you've been in that garden on July 4th celebrations, I am sure, I did once or twice.

FOSTER: Yes.

QUEST: Beautiful gardens. Absolutely beautiful. The house is beautiful. And the house is very much determined because they get -- the London Ambassador

tends to be a political appointment and usually somebody quite wealthy, who I remember one ambassador brought his own private art collection over and

put it throughout the house, so that's very much.

And then you get those who are careered who can't afford to do that and it all goes a bit pear shaped, Max.

FOSTER: It is a stunning property. Drive into Regent's Park. I mean, it has to be the most valuable property in Britain, I'd argue. It is just the

stunning mansion in the middle of the park, completely separate and completely silent. You feel like you're in the countryside and you walk

out, as you say, into this vast garden. You can't actually see the end of it. It just rolls into Regent's Park.

I think we can actually call it the biggest private garden in London now, because the King doesn't actually live at Buckingham Palace, it is not

actually a private residence at the moment. So it is, I think we can redefine it. Should we do that?

QUEST: Let's -- Max, thank you very much. I will let you go and get some -- it is getting a bit late for you now, let you get some sleep. The -- oh

there is that -- oh, come on, let's wait until the helicopter takes off. We've gone this far, Max. Let's get the darn thing into the air and on its

way to Winfield House. It could only be a matter of a few seconds.

When it -- and of course, as always, there will be a chase and a follow, so you're never sure which helicopter is the President is actually in.

The Queen -- the late Queen was very upset once with the helicopter. I think it was George Bush. Was it George Bush or maybe --?

[16:25:04]

Landed the helicopter on Buckingham Palace lawn and nearly -- and ruined the whole thing and the late Queen was never -- was very upset about that,

but that is a story for another day.

Oh no, it was the Obama -- anyway -- do you remember that one, Max? Maybe not.

FOSTER: No, but I am looking forward to this aircraft arriving at Windsor tomorrow, because we are going to see the Prince and Princess of Wales

actually welcoming the couple.

I am speaking to the Princess of Wales' team, and I don't think she has actually met the President properly, briefly they met, but that is going to

be an interesting dynamic seeing Melania Trump and the Princess as well, when you know, Marine One arrives here and you really do see the pomp and

pageantry.

You know, for the untrained eye, it might look like the normal sort of pomp and pageantry, but I've been speaking to the military all week and they say

it is enormous.

QUEST: All right, Max. Max, I am grateful. Thank you. We will -- the helicopter is going to take off. We will let it go. Oh, there it is.

Excellent.

Max Foster, you've got a busy few days ahead. Thank you, sir. I am grateful.

Joining me now while we continue to look at that helicopter taking off, Adam Posen, the President of the Peterson Institute for International

Economics.

Thank you, sir, for bearing with us as we watch the events taking place. You served on the MPC, which is the equivalent of the Bank of England's

Monetary Policy Committee.

Arriving in the U.K. like this, trade, Adam, trade is so crucial. A lot of this pomp and circumstance is designed to make sure that the U.K. is in the

most favorable position, would you agree?

ADAM POSEN, PRESIDENT, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: Yes, absolutely, Richard, and former Ambassador Mandelson, as you described, was

key to this charm offensive and the U.K. made the call that if they were in first and made the deal, they would do best and they've done relatively

well amidst all the threats that Trump has made to others.

And as you said, Starmer, like Ursula von der Leyen in the European Commission, like eventually Mark Carney in Canada, like the new Prime

Minister in Japan, all have to suffer the domestic slings and arrows of sucking up to Trump as part of the deal.

And the one point I would raise, though, is it is not just trade. I think Trump may come back with demands on the U.K. for investment in the U.S.,

for joint military production, and for rescinding their digital tax.

QUEST: Wow! So there will be an enormous amount -- I mean, I love your phrase, there is only so much sucking up you can do when there is a price

to be paid on the other end.

I want to talk about the FOMC meeting starting tomorrow, Adam, I am not sure -- I am going to show a graph. I am going to show our viewers exactly

the FOMC, the composite make up.

Now, here you have the makeup of it. Now at the last meeting, you had Christopher Waller and you had Michelle Bowman both voting for rate cuts.

The rest of them all decided not to cut rates.

But now of course, we have Stephen Miron, who looks like he will vote for - - well, he is going to take his seat and will almost certainly vote for a rate cut. So if he goes for a cut, Waller goes for a cut, Bowman goes for a

cut, is it your view that everybody else will go for a cut as well?

POSEN: I think Chair Powell signaled at Jackson Hole a month ago that they were going to go for a cut, barring strange data, and I think you will get

unanimity on that a 25-basis point cut, unless Bowman, Waller or Miron decide to vote for 50 or something. But I think everybody will vote for

some form of cut.

And the question is -- there is no question it will satisfy President Trump. Question is how much do the markets react since they are pricing in

pretty aggressive path of cuts and my expectation is they will vote for a cut, they will indicate what we call a loosening bias or an easing bias,

but they won't commit ahead of time to future cuts and I think the markets may react a little negatively to that.

QUEST: But we have Jerome Powell, who has clearly said that when the dual mandate is in conflict, you do a balancing act and drawing it on -- you do

a balancing act to see which it is going to be and whether it is going to be inflation or whether it is going to be unemployment.

The majority -- I mean, Donald Trump talked about once we get Miron and if we get Lisa Cook and we get policy, we have a majority. We've never heard a

president talk about wanting a majority of seats on the FOMC. He sees it incredibly differently.

POSEN: Yes, he has as his behavior towards the U.K. and foreign governments, as his behavior towards other independent or semi-independent

agencies in the U.S., and arguably Richard, as his behavior towards Congress, he, to put it in terms he would use they believe in the unitary

executive, that the President should be in power to appoint and fire people and to control these institutions of government.

And there is a lot of good reasons why, in the case of the Federal Reserve as well as some others, you don't want to do that. It is bad for the

country, it is bad for inflation, it is bad for the interest rate you're going to pay.

[16:30:47]

A key point, though, Richard, is what you said about the majority. Leaving aside the issue of their attacks on Governor Cook, the FOMC, as your

display showed, is a bunch of members from the reserve banks as well as the seven members of the Board of Governors in Washington. And as of the

moment, Trump does not have a majority. But at the end of the month of February, all the reserve bank presidents come up for reappointment.

And if he has a majority on the Board of Governors by then, then he can determine who gets reappointed. And so he would, before too long,

potentially have the kind of majority of people responsive to him he wants.

QUEST: Adam, I'm grateful. Thank you. And thank you for sticking around whilst the plane landed and they got off, got on the helicopter and headed

to Winfield House, all things of which you are incredibly familiar from your previous life, if you will, in London. Thank you, sir. We'll talk

more. And great to talk.

POSEN: Thank you, Richard.

QUEST: Now, in just a moment, United Airlines was forced to cut the amount of flights from Newark. So why would that man, not me, on the left, that

man on the right, it's Scott Kirby, the CEO of United, why is he happy at being told no, the cuts stay? After all, it means he can't fly as many

flights, after the break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT KIRBY, CEO, UNITED AIRLINES: This was the structural change needed to really put Newark on a level footing with LaGuardia and JFK, and it's why

we just had the most reliable summer in the history of Newark Airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:35:20]

QUEST: The United Airlines' chief executive says Newark Airport has just had its most reliable summer in history, which is quite remarkable since in

the spring it was a fiasco plagued by delays. Newark faced staffing shortages with air traffic control tower worsened by communication and

radar outages, old equipment, failing equipment that led eventually to five controllers needing to take trauma leave.

Now the FAA, the agency responsible, has reduced the number of flights at the airport, and in doing so cut the workload to ease congestion.

Scott Kirby, the chief executive, told me he's not bothered by being forced to fly less flights from Newark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRBY: We've been begging the FAA to put slot controls on Newark for my entire career here at Newark because the airport, when you have more

flights than the FAA can handle at the airport, it leads to delays for customers. This was the structural change needed to really put Newark on a

level footing with LaGuardia and JFK. And it's why we just had the most reliable summer in the history of Newark Airport.

QUEST: How long do you think it's going to take for the perception to change at Newark? You can sit here and throw statistics at me until tea

time.

KIRBY: Yes.

QUEST: It's the perception.

KIRBY: We've seen the essentially a full recovery in booking demand for Newark compared to where we were before. But facts turn into perception.

And even for people that don't have that perception yet, we get them to try it once and they have a good experience. They'll try it a second time and

realize that they have a good experience.

Now, it's still the New York airspace. Newark and LaGuardia and JFK are the most crowded airspace in the world. So it's still not as reliable as the

rest of the country. But for the New York airspace, Newark is now every bit as reliable as the other two airports.

QUEST: There's a new phrase, the K model, in terms of the way demand is looking at the moment, which is sort of -- premium traffic is up, if you

will, but low cost traffic is dwindling.

KIRBY: Yes.

QUEST: And is that what you're experiencing?

KIRBY: You know, I don't think that's really accurate. Premium is up more, but economy cabin is up as well.

QUEST: But the front of the bus is doing very well.

KIRBY: It is doing very well. And, you know, part of what I think is happened is we didn't realize how big the market for better value, better

service or good value was, how much -- how much bigger the so-called premium market was until we created premium products. It's not just the

products created a premium experience. The service, the technology, everything about it. And once you offer that to customers, there are a lot

of customers that think that's a better value. They're not just looking for the cheapest price, they're looking for value.

QUEST: That cost you more to provide it, though, doesn't it?

KIRBY: Absolutely.

QUEST: And one of the things you've been, you know, you have put a lot of money at the front of the plane. You're seeing a return on that?

KIRBY: We are. But we've put money throughout the entire airplane. If you get on this airplane, go to the last seat in coach. It's going to have

beautiful big seatback entertainment systems. You get the same technology whether you're sitting in the back or up front, like we've invested

throughout the airplane.

QUEST: There's a huge fuss earlier in the year over generative A.I. and pricing and dynamic pricing. Now, look, you've been doing dynamic pricing

for decades.

KIRBY: Yes.

QUEST: That's not new. But this idea of adding an A.I. component, so bluntly, are you going to go to individual pricing? It will know that there

is a Richard Quest fare, because Richard Quest tends to like that seat in that class, and he'll pay this much money, send.

KIRBY: Yes. No, we are not doing that. And by the way, neither is Delta. That's not what their pricing model is doing. Nobody is doing that.

QUEST: What are you doing? How are you using A.I. then --

KIRBY: So we're using -- We're using A.I. throughout the company. I think the best use of A.I., the one I'm most excited about at United right now,

is using A.I. to explain delays to customers. My goal is we get to a point where if you're on a flight that's delayed, pretend that I am on the

airplane and I have asked, what's the delay about that? Then we tell every customer exactly what they would tell me, and A.I. can help us do that.

QUEST: If we look at the industry at the moment, you're always being asked about consolidation. You've been -- you've been fairly blunt about spirits

prospects for the future, which you've sort of rate us somewhere near zero. You've been also quite forthright on American Airlines in Chicago and

indeed about American Airlines generally.

And at what point -- I mean, where do you see yourself fitting into all of this now?

KIRBY: You know, I think that being a brand, loyal airline is our goal, and that's what works. If you're a brand loyal airline, you know, you have

customers that want to fly you because the product is better.

[16:40:03]

The service from our employees is better. The technology, everything is better. And that gives you some immunity to the larger trends.

QUEST: So where do you position it next three to five years? It's a long way out.

KIRBY: Yes. It is. So I think the next mission, I don't have the answers yet, but the next mission for us is how do we really compete more

effectively on the global stage, create a great American airline that all Americans can be proud of. And we compete with international carriers who,

for good reasons, have various forms of state subsidies. We don't have that and we don't want it. But I want us to be able to compete.

And today we have a big trade deficit with foreign airlines. Two-thirds of the long haul international seats to and from the United States are foreign

flagged airlines, even though it's only 40 percent of the passengers are from international. So we need to get that balance. But we need to help

find ways that we can compete more effectively on that global stage. You know, I think the domestic market is what it is, but trying to focus on

that global domestic or on that global competition is really our mission for the next three to five years.

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QUEST: That is Scott Kirby, CEO of United.

The world of cinema is paying tribute to Robert Redford, the award-winning actor who died today at the age of 89. Known for such stars as role as

Butch Cassidy, "All the President's Men," his legacy also includes the Sundance Film Festival, a showcase for indie filmmakers which has taken

place in the last 40 years in Park City, Utah.

It was in 2007 when I had the honor and the pleasure of interviewing Robert Redford. He told me about his vision behind Sundance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT REDFORD, ACTOR: Sundance, when it was started, was what can I put back that would be of benefit to the industry that's been good to me? But

it couldn't be something, you know, classically traditional because that was sort of against my own grain. Point is to show films that other people

might not get a chance to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable.

"CONNECTING AFRICA" is next.

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(CONNECTING AFRICA)

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