United Airlines CEO calls for wealth tax

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby backed national wealth and inheritance taxes in an interview published Sunday, arguing they would help level the playing field for Americans.

Kirby told The New York Times that wealth inequality “has become a danger to our society,” adding the federal government must “address” it.

“We should have a national wealth tax — it won’t work by state because people will just move,” the United CEO added. “And I think we should have inheritance taxes that get close to 100 percent at some level. I would pay them.”

Progressive lawmakers and candidates have for years proposed a wealth tax to address income inequality and boost funding for social programs.

In California this midterm season, voters will decide whether the state will impose a one-time 5 percent tax on billionaires’ wealth. Revenue from the tax would fund state healthcare and food assistance programs, along with public education.

Forty-five percent of respondents to a poll the University of California Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies conducted last month backed Proposition 40, which proposes the wealth tax. That is below the majority support needed for passage.

Forty-two percent of respondents were against the measure, while 13 percent were undecided.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced legislation in March to establish a 5 percent annual wealth tax on households with a net worth of more than $1 billion.

The proposal would raise roughly $4.4 trillion over the next decade and cut the wealth of the “typical” billionaire in half after 15 years, according to an analysis from economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zuchman.

Another analysis researchers at the Tax Policy Center conducted last year found that a 1 percent wealth tax on households with greater than $50 million in assets — and greater than $25 million for unmarried filers — would raise nearly $2 trillion over a 10-year period.