United Airlines Faces Challenges with Fleet Retrofit and Booking Trends

United Airlines CEO and COO have observed a fundamental shift in the nature and market of international traffic, with deeper valleys and steeper peaks of demand. The airline is seeing stronger demand for peak leisure months and weaker demand for historically business-oriented months. United's new routes to Australia and secondary cities in Europe have been profitable from day one, while traditional markets like London are weaker due to a large amount of capacity. As a result, United is shifting to other markets to respond to shifting demand and increase profitability.