Patrick Quayle, United Airlines’ Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances, made an interesting comment in Newark yesterday while discussing the carrier’s latest international expansion: United, he said, is now “more of a lifestyle brand than we are of an airline.” I know what he means…but I’m not sure I’m ready to go quite that far.

Patrick Quayle Says United Is Becoming “More Of A Lifestyle Brand Than An Airline”

There are few people in the airline industry I respect more than Patrick Quayle.

He has transformed United’s international network into something genuinely distinctive, adding destinations like Nuuk, Ulaanbaatar, Madeira, Bilbao, Bari, Split, Santiago de Compostela, and now Luxembourg, Ibiza, Toulouse, Ljubljana, Terceira, and more.

While discussing that strategy in Newark yesterday, Quayle explained that some of these destinations are difficult to justify if you look only at historical traffic data.

“We picked the destinations where we thought we had an opportunity. These places were not convenient to get to from a hub perspective. You had to get to a hub [in Europe] and then reach this destination.

“You can’t square it off in an Excel spreadsheet.

“We’re more of a lifestyle brand than we are of an airline.”

That’s a fascinating way to describe United.

And I’m still trying to decide whether I agree.

What Does It Even Mean For An Airline To Be A “Lifestyle Brand”?

When I hear “lifestyle brand,” I think of companies like Apple or Lululemon.

For better or for worse, you are buying into an identity, not simply a computer or a pair of pants.

Apple sells a brand that for many consumers encompasses a certain image of simplicity, design, and affluence, not just phones, laptops, or other commodities.

Same with Lululemon, which seems tied to a particular lifestyle and customer identity…I’m sure you can name other examples.

Can an airline really do the same thing?

In United’s case, Quayle is talking less about merchandise and more about aspiration.

United increasingly wants customers to look at its route map and think about where they could go next, not merely search for transportation to a destination they have already chosen.

Put another way, Quayle’s network strategy is increasingly built around creating demand rather than simply responding to it, which I’ll return to below.

A traveler may not wake up thinking, “I need to go to Ljubljana.” But then United announces the only nonstop flight from the United States, markets Slovenia as an easy summer escape, puts it on the homepage of united.com, and suddenly Ljubljana becomes the trip.

That’s much closer to lifestyle marketing than traditional airline network planning.

United Is Increasingly Selling The Idea Of Travel

United has become very good at making its network itself part of the product. Look at the annual route announcement videos, in which route announcements are turned into a highly-anticipated game. It hides clues, lets aviation geeks obsess over them, and deliberately chooses destinations that generate conversation.

Merchandise branding is another United innovation, including a recently-produced special pair of Adidas Samba sneakers for its 100th anniversary.

I wanted them…actually, I ordered them.

So perhaps Quayle has me there…

There is also United’s long association with Rhapsody in Blue, its increasingly distinctive lounge design, Starlink, the resurrection of the “Fly the Friendly Skies” identity, and even partnerships that place United inside popular culture rather than simply advertising airline tickets like with the recent Devils Wears Prada sequel.

So that’s certainly branding well beyond schedules and fares.

But An Airline Still Has To Be An Airline

You can call yourself a lifestyle brand all you want, but if the flight is delayed six hours, the Wi-Fi does not work, the cabin is filthy, or the seat is uncomfortable, nobody cares about your Adidas sneakers or Hollywood cameos.

An airline ultimately sells transportation.

And I think United’s recent success comes primarily because the underlying airline has improved substantially, which matters far more to me than whether the brand becomes culturally fashionable and the exotic route map alone.l

As I hinted bove, I do think the point is to generate demand. Sticking to the Ljubljana example, if you only study historical traffic between Newark and Ljubljana, the market may look tiny. But historical traffic cannot capture passengers who never considered Slovenia because getting there required multiple flights.

Add a nonstop flight and market the destination effectively, and suddenly you may create an entirely new market.

That’s the “lifestyle” element…United, the influencer.

And There Is Something To The United Identity

There are diehard Southwest loyalists who genuinely love Southwest and there are passengers who identify strongly with Delta.

And United increasingly seems determined to cultivate the same sort of emotional attachment, but around global travel (especially), technology, and premium experiences.

The Adidas shoes are a silly but revealing example.

Nobody needs United-branded Sambas to get from Los Angeles to London. Yet I wanted a pair because I like United, I like aviation, and the shoes represent something beyond the transportation itself.

That is precisely how lifestyle brands work.

Okay, Patrick…point taken.

CONCLUSION

Patrick Quayle says United is becoming “more of a lifestyle brand than an airline.”

I still think that’s a bit much, but I understand what Quayle is getting at.

United increasingly wants its customers to engage with the brand before they have even decided where to travel. Its unusual international network, route-announcement games, premium products, technology investments, lounges, partnerships, and yes, even Adidas shoes, are all part of making United something more than a commodity transportation provider.

And perhaps the strongest evidence that his argument has some merit is that I actually bought the shoes…

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