A
ndy Buchanan might well be one
of the wizards of United Airlines,
with a job that takes a li le art,
a li le science and perhaps even a li le
alchemy to turn information and aircra
capabilities into a win-win for United
and its customers. As director of interna-
tional network planning, he works with
his team to determine what the airline’s
international route structure should look
like—now and in the future.
“
Every time that United adds a new
international route, the decision comes
out of our area,” Buchanan explains.
“
We basically determine what routes
the airline should be flying, what routes
it shouldn’t be flying, how many times
a day it should provide service on each
route and which aircraft should fly on
each route.”
When Buchanan and his teamconsider
new routes, they start with data—lots
of data. They work in conjunction with
departments such as Cargo, Pricing and
Revenue Management, Sales and Fleet
Planning to determine a route’s appeal
to customers—and potential customers.
“
At the end of the day, we’re forecasting
for something that we’ve never done. We
have to apply our best judgment to any
market change based on our years of
experience doing this.”
Buchanan says the introduction of the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner to the United fleet
brings many new possibilities in terms
of the routes he andhis teamcan consider.
The plane has a seating capacity similar to
that of a Boeing 767, but with the ability
to fly the longer routes of the larger
Boeing 777—a combination that enables
United to serve routes that were never
economically feasible before.
“
The 787 fills a role in our fleet that no
other plane today does,” he says, explain-
ing that the aircra enables United to fly
routes, such as Los Angeles–Shanghai,
that need long-range aircra , but not nec-
essarily larger aircra year-round. “Over
timewe’re going to be able to be ermatch
up capacitywith demand as it varies from
season to season.”
The 787 not only permitsmore efficient
service on existing routes, but also allows
United to consider new service, Buchanan
says. “We always try to figure out what we
can do with our planes to produce the
best opportunity for our customers and
our company. A route that we looked at
last year but didn’t have enough demand
for might work this year with the 787.
The time might be right because the
aircra is right.”
The recently announcedDenver-Tokyo
route is a perfect example, he says. “That
market was on our radar screen for a
while, and the people of Denver cried out
for that route, but we didn’t have the right
plane for it. Nowwe have 787s coming, and
they’ve got the right capacity.”
Buchanan grew up in Birmingham,
Mich., in a family with a bent for “planes,
trains and automobiles,” he says. His
father worked for General Motors and his
brother works for the Canadian National
Railroad. Buchanan had an interest in
the airline industry, which led him to
pursue a degree in aviationmanagement
at Auburn University. He also married
into the transportation industry after
meeting his futurewife, Monica, at United
several years ago.
Buchanan began at the airline in
Revenue Management, where he got a
chance to see and become intrigued by
network planning. Since moving over to
that department 12 years ago, he’s go en
hooked. He says his personal interest
in travel also keeps him invested in the
results of his work.
“
A lot of people in the department tend
to be travelers. It’s part of the makeup of
those who get a racted to network plan-
ning. I’m one of those people, although I
don’t travel as much today as I used to.”
Still, that curiosity about destinations
and love of travel helps Buchanan appre-
ciate the importance of planning those
just-right routes for customers and for
the airline.
The RouteWizard
Andy Buchanan and his teamfind newways to connect planes
and places to bring customers the world
BY A. AVERYL RE
14
NOVEMBER 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
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