United Turns Its Focus From International to Domestic Growth
Skift Take
United's new international flights, especially those to secondary cities in China, could be massively profitable some day. But it generally takes long-haul flights some time to ramp up. It makes sense that United will now place more emphasis on its domestic network.
In the past three years, United Airlines has added many flights to far-flung destinations, including Chengdu, Xi'an and Hangzhou in China, and Tel Aviv, Singapore, and Auckland.
But as United has tried to fulfill its global aspirations, it has taken a more cautious approach in the United States, adding relatively few routes. In fact, its most notable network change in recent memory likely was a time it shrunk. In October 2015, it stopped flying to New York John F. Kennedy and moved transcontinental flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to its Newark, New Jersey hub.
But United has three new members of its senior management team — Chief Commericial Officer Julia Haywood, President Scot
