Intern - Network Planning/UAX (Summer 2026)

Description

At United, we offer internships, co-ops, and full-time opportunities for early career professionals. In any role, you're a key member of our team, contributing to real projects that help move the business forward while gaining hands-on experience, growing your professional skill set, and connecting with industry leaders. You'll also have a chance to build community through our employee-run Business Resource Groups, participate in industry conferences, and enjoy unlimited standby travel anywhere we fly.

On United's Global Network & Alliances team, we like to solve puzzles --from where we fly to when we fly, and even what planes we fly. Our team crafts flight schedules, routes, and partnerships that connect our customers with hundreds of destinations around the world. Our team is part of a Commercial organization in United that designs travel experiences that our customers - and employees - love. Get ready to work on our biggest puzzle when you join the Global Network & Alliances team.

Key Responsibilities:

The Global Network & Alliances team includes the areas of Network Planning, Scheduling, Alliances, Strategy/Analytics, and United Express. Interns will complete a project in one of these areas while receiving training and networking opportunities in all areas.

Network Planning

• Manage a portfolio of markets by forecasting and executing tactical and strategic recommendations including seasonal adjustments, aircraft changes, and launching new markets
• Build cross-functional working relationships throughout the commercial organization to align Pricing, Revenue Management, Cargo, Sales, Marketing, and other teams around a unified strategy and improve decision making in all related domains
• Proactively research, develop and present insights with an owner mentality to senior leadership
• Past Projects
  • Cost analysis at a station, route, and equipment level
  • New market opportunities

Scheduling

• Ensure aircraft routing, turn time, and ground time requirements align with United's operational teams
• Analyze aircraft flows, turn times, equipment type compatibility at each station, gating constraints, crew availability, and other parameters
• Optimize United's schedule for profitability and operability while accounting for other stakeholder priorities, including safety, customer service, airport operations, aircraft maintenance, catering, inflight crew, aircraft performance and others
• Past Project
  • Develop widebody schedule tool to help inform United's detailed scheduling decisions

Alliances

• Evaluate global strategic partnership opportunities within our Analysis, Commercial and Operations teams
• Analyze financial value of partnerships and identify areas to improve revenue and the customer experience
• Negotiate with existing and potential partners, draft contracts, and coordinate with stakeholders across various departments in the company
• Past Projects
  • Implementation of Customer Care Dashboard
  • Codeshare benchmarking and partnership valuation

Strategy & Analytics

• Develop long-term strategic plans for United's fleet, network, relationships with United Express partners, pilots, and competitive positioning
• Evaluate and make recommendations to senior leadership on aircraft purchases, retirements, or reconfigurations
• Create rigorous, data-driven analytical tools to support optimization of schedules, fleeting, and overall capacity levels
• Past Projects
  • Create model to identify aircraft up-gauge opportunities in future schedules
  • Gate usage analysis and development of gate use requirements database

United Express (UAX)

• Develop various deep-dive analyses and reporting projects across the UAX portfolio, which may include customer, operational, commercial, and financial data
• Work with UAX functional teams and our UAX Partners to identify and track key initiatives that improve performance
• Lead problem solving and process improvement activities to help augment and streamline reporting, analysis, and measurement functions across UAX
• Past Project
  • Business case development for potential UAX onboard products

This position is a hybrid role including a combination of days worked in our Chicago office and remotely.

Qualifications

What's needed to succeed (Minimum Qualifications):

Currently enrolled in a Bachelor's or Master's Degree program

Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills

Strong verbal and written communication skills and strong interpersonal skills

Proven proficiency in Microsoft Office, specifically PowerPoint and Excel

Intellectual curiosity, desire to learn, ability to take initiative

Must be legally authorized to work in the United States

What will help you propel from the pack (Preferred Qualifications):

• Analytical / quantitative major, e.g., Engineering, natural sciences, economics/business/finance, statistics, mathematics, etc. encouraged
• Knowledge of Network Planning principles
• Comfort with SQL, Python, R, VBA, or SAS
• Experience with Power BI, Tableau, or Palantir Foundry
• Planned graduation date between Dec 2026 and July 2027