Amplifying progress through supplier partnership

We are invested in diversifying our supply chain and building a strong network of small, diverse- and woman-owned businesses to expand with us as we take the next step in our growth.

Because of our size and global reach, we have the ability—and responsibility—to influence outcomes for many businesses and communities. Our mission is twofold: Procure goods and services needed to run an efficient, innovative and competitive airline while creating a positive impact in the communities where our suppliers do business.

Executive accountability

Our Executive team is responsible for driving this work. To ensure accountability at the highest levels of the organization, diverse spend goals are factored into executive compensation.

Divisional ownership and accountability

The only way we will initiate sustainable progress is to embed supplier diversity practices and principles into our day-to-day operations. To do that, we built and continue to invest in our Business Diversity Ambassador Program.

Today, we have more than 20 Diversity Ambassadors representing all areas of the business. Each ambassador team has an executive champion to help them address challenges and unlock progress in their objectives to:

  • Establish and be accountable for meeting divisional diverse- and small-business spend goals
  • Seek out opportunities for increased diverse- and small-business spend
  • Identify growth and mentorship opportunities for existing suppliers

The next stop on our journey: Billion Dollar Roundtable

In 2021, we announced our intention to become a member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable (BDR), a group of corporations recognized for:

  • Spending at least $1 billion1 annually with women- and diverse-owned businesses by 2050.
  • Implementing business policy and practices to ensure program sustainability and diverse business growth anddevelopment.

*Spend is BDR-qualified only if the supplier is certified by one of five agencies: Disability:IN, the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the National Minority Supplier Development Council, the National Veteran’s Business Development Council or the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

We are making signfiicant progress:

  • United achieved $79M in BDR-qualified spend in 2021
  • United achieved $172M in BDR-qualified spend in 2022
  • We have set a target to reach $400M in BDR-qualified spend in 2023

Standardizing agreements

We have a significant direct supplier spend, but the impact is multiplied up the supply chain. That’s why we seek to use our supply chain to drive positive change in how businesses purchase goods and services. We have developed standardized supplier diversity contract language for all agreements, with a focus on reporting small and diverse Tier 2 spend. This speaks to our commitment to ensure our prime suppliers support our mission to diversify the supply chain and increase opportunities with minority-, women- and disadvantaged-owned business entities.

Footnotes

  1. Spend is BDR-qualified only if the supplier is certified by one of five agencies: Disability:IN, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, National Minority Supplier Development Council, National Veteran’s Business Development Council, Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)