United's president says the airline must fix domestic operations, starting at Newark Airport

A top United executive last week reviewed the carrier's route system -- said to be the best in the world -- and publicly defined the problem that has hobbled its performance for more than a decade. "We built everything around focusing on international, which we do really well," said United President Scott Kirby. "But we let the domestic slide. {Today} United uniquely has less exposure to {domestic} markets than our competitors." Kirby, who took over as president just six weeks ago, spoke at United's investor day on Nov. 15. It may have signified the turning point United has awaited ever since Stephen Wolf, its last great CEO, departed in 1994, as the carrier laid out a new path that includes boosting domestic flying, delaying aircraft orders and unveiling a plan for low-end seats that could lure passengers from ultra-low-cost airlines. United is the only airline with hubs in the top five domestic markets of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington. Newark is the country's best trans-Atlantic hub, San Francisco is the best trans-Pacific hub, and Houston is the second best Latin America hub. But domestically, United lags American and Delta, at a time when domestic profitability lags international profitability. The clearest sign of the gap is a consistently lower profit margin. What happened? After domestic deregulation took effect in 1980, international markets remained largely regulated and profitable, Kirby said, while "domestic profitability plummeted," due to fragmented networks and a profusion of low-fare carriers. As a result, he said, "United's mindset {became}, 'we just want to fly enough domestic to feed our international flying.'"<br/>