United Airlines and Boeing announced an agreement on Tuesday for up to 200 new wide-body aircraft, a deal the airline describes as “the largest wide-body order by a U.S. airline in history.” commercial aviation.”
The airline said it has signed an order for 100 Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes, with options for 100 more. The aircraft will be a combination of the 787-8, -9 and -10 variants that United said it will choose when each goes into production. The airline now operates each variant.
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Orders arrive almost a year and a half later United has placed orders with Boeing and Airbus for a total of 270 narrow-body aircraftat that time it said 0. was the largest order in its history.
Reports of a pending US order circulate for months, with its fleet of Boeing 767s getting older, along with some of its 777 wide-body planes. The airline says new Dreamliners will replace those planes, with a fleet of 767 expected to be completely decommissioned by 2030.
Chief Financial Officer Gerry Laderman said in a press conference on Monday night ahead of the announcement, the order will see United take delivery of new aircraft between 2024 and 2032, characterizing the order as being entirely dedicated to replacing the aging wide-body fleet.
“In that same 10-year period, we have about 12 wide-body aircraft, 767 and 777, that will reach 30 years old,” Laderman said. “It’s time to start thinking about retiring those planes. So these 100 companies [aircraft orders] will replace 767 and some 777.”
Additional options, Laderman said, allow for expansion based on “opportunity” in the future, while chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella noted that the flexibility of options means United can grow its reach. international when the market allows.
“By 2030, if we make these choices, more than 80% of our long-haul flights will be on the 787 platform,” he said. “It supports our reliability, it makes things simpler, and it’s a great aircraft for our customers to fly.”
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It is unclear what this means for United’s longstanding order with Airbus for the wide-body A350, a direct competitor to the 787. United currently has 45 A350-900 twin jets on order. , was converted in 2017 from an order of 35 larger A350s -1000s originally placed in 2010.
For now, Laderman said, United has postponed delivery of that order until 2030 and will consider next steps in the near future.
“The A350 is a really great alternative to the 777,” he said. “We know that some 777s are being replaced in this order, but that’s not all and we will make a decision later.”
Notably, the addition of the 350s would add an extra layer of complexity to United’s long-haul fleet and further complicate the airline’s pilot recruitment and training plans, Laderman said.
“We’re already the 787 operator. The economics of putting on a different type of fleet doesn’t make any sense when you’re already the operator of an efficient modern aircraft.”
United plans to configure the new 787s in the current three-cabin configuration, with Polaris . Business Class, Premium Plus economy class and coach, including extra legroom seats. Nocella said there are currently no plans to replace the business class product with a new seat design, but that could change before the current order is shipped out.
“We think it’s a great seat, our customers love it and we’ll continue to install it,” he said. “This has been a distribution stream for over 10 years, so obviously we’re going to evaluate what we want in the long run and make the right decisions from that perspective, but for now we’re going to install together.” a seat.”
It also expanded its narrow-body order book with Boeing, exercising existing options for an additional 44 737 MAX planes between 2024 and 2026 and placing 56 new orders for MAX variants to be delivered from 2024 to 2026. 2026 through 2028. Overall, United has about 700 new planes on order for delivery through 2032, the airline said in a press release, and expects to deliver more than two on average. per week next year and three per week in 2024.
United also provided an update on its cabin retrofit program, saying it expects to complete the installation of existing Polaris and Premium Plus seats on all international wide-body aircraft by summer – more than 90% of those seats have already been completed. It also says that it’s still looking forward Retrofit your entire main fleet with updated interiorscurrently being delivered on a handful of new aircraft, by the end of 2025. While the narrow-body retrofit program looks to be getting off to a slow start, according to some observers, the airline says 100 planes are expected. There will be new furniture installed in 2023.
