Airlines Take Notice of Millennials With New Strategies

When he was in his early 30s and working at American Airlines, Patrick Quayle visited Cape Town, South Africa, for an adventure-filled vacation. When he left, he vowed he'd try to add Cape Town if he ever chose routes for an airline. Quayle, now 40, recently got his chance. He's vice president for international planning at United Airlines, deciding where it will fly and when. Starting in December, United will fly three times per week from Newark to Cape Town, though only during the Southern Hemisphere summer. United is the first U.S. airline to fly to Cape Town. As Quayle becomes more comfortable on the job — he joined about two years ago from American — he is looking for new leisure-focused routes that might attract younger vacationers who seek options beyond usual hotspots in Western Europe and North America. Airlines need considerable demand to make an international route viable, so Quayle may never launch a new flight to that remote fishing village in South America or