Managing the Friendly Skies

Sai Suprabath Chadalavada (MEM ’26) recently had a seat few airline passengers ever receive—one that looked directly into the nerve center of United Airlines’ entire operation.  

Sai and his classmates in Northwestern's Master of Engineering Management (MEM) program took a field trip to the airline’s Network Operations Center, located in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He said it was like watching the gears of a global machine turn in real time. 

“It’s amazing, they understand that everything is dynamic," Sai said. "Anything can happen at any point of time, and they are prepared to deal with it.” 

That preparation begins well before a passenger boards a flight, Sai and his classmate learned.  

The effort kicks off 14 days before, when United personnel start matching pilots with aircraft, begin monitoring anticipated weather patterns, prepare for planned maintenance, and model for variables from an array of categories.  

Seven days out, they make adjustments based on weather shifts, passenger demand, aircraft swaps, and crew changes.  

The magnitude of the efforts left Sai amazed. It was just the type of exposure he hoped for when he came to the MEM program. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology Mesra in Jharkhand, India, and experience working in operational excellence. 

But he wanted something more. 

“I wanted to ascend. My past manager was super-sound in technical skills and had a perfect blend with his managerial skills,” he said. “MEM is a great place because it has that same whole-brain philosophy, where we add soft skills and grow our technical skills.” 

Sai said he was mainly excited for the field trip for two reasons.  

The first was an opportunity to connect more deeply with his classmates. The second was to expand his network. 

“Long-term contacts are very valuable,” he said. “We were able to talk with United employees and understand how they do their work, what struggles they face, how they think about failure, how they celebrate their success. It was fascinating.”  

The trip included a stop at United’s innovation lab, known as the Airshop Innovation Center. Its goal is to be a hub to prototype, test, and visualize the future of aviation. The lab includes projection mapping across multiple walls, interactive content modules, a 270-degree immersive theater, and life-sized training simulators that allow the airline to emulate airport layouts, prototype customer experience, and visualize operational scenarios.  

This enables the company to train employees in realistic, full-scale environments while they innovate.  

Sai said he came away from the field trip with a better understanding of the mindset needed to succeed in a highly competitive environment.  

“They were so focused on their operations and efficiency,” he said. “They were comfortable with change. They were comfortable with risk.”  

Sai said he hopes to take that mindset and the company’s approach to planning for each and every flight into his post-MEM career. His goal is to work in operations and strategy, though he also is interested in emerging technologies like quantum computing.  

Wherever he ends up, he said his time in the MEM program will help him reach his goals.  

“Our courses are designed in such a way that in every course, we have at least one project to present. It's a lot of communication skills, presentation skills, learning how to effectively talk to different stakeholders,” he said. “We will encounter a lot of different people in our careers, and we are learning what we need to know to ensure our presentations are successful.”