United Airlines is reportedly negotiating an order for more than 100 wide-body aircraft, studying the possibility of acquiring Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A350 or even both models.
The information was made public by Bloomberg in a report by Julie Johnsson, Mary Schlangenstein and Charlotte Ryan with information from sources close to the subject. If completed, it would be one of the largest purchases of wide-body aircraft in history.
The order would replace the oldest aircraft in its widebody fleet, including 38 Boeing 767-300ERs (26.8 years old on average), 16 Boeing 767-400ERs (21.1 years old), 19 Boeing 777-200s (25.6 years old), and the 55 Boeing 777-200ERs (22.6 years old).
As the Bloomberg cable details, Kirby recently told pilots attending a training session in Denver that they are planning a «triple-digit» order and are studying multiple widebody models for a deal that could be announced in December. Neither United, Airbus or Boeing would comment on this, the agency notes, and dates could be subject to change.
United has only seven Dreamliners pending delivery and has already taken delivery of 64: 12 Boeing 787-8s, 14 Boeing 787-10s and 38 Boeing 787-9s; and has a repeatedly postponed deal for 45 Airbus A350s, which it had hoped to take delivery of by the end of this decade.
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United is once again faced with a choice between two manufacturers to choose the future of its widebody aircraft. The carrier historically favored Boeing models, but has already surprised in 2019 by ordering 50 Airbus A321neo (XLR) and 70 Airbus A321neo to replace its venerable single-aisle Boeing 757s.
The detail of its four older models.
The widebodies to be replaced are distributed across its various U.S. hubs:
- Boeing 767-300ERs; based at Newark (EWR) and Houston (IAH), in the coming months they will operate on 29 routes in Europe, Hawaii and Central America. The company uses most of its Boeing 767s in a 167-passenger Premium High configuration, divided into 46 Polaris and 22 Premium Plus seats, along with 43 Economy Plus and 56 standard economy seats.
- Boeing 767-400ERs; based at Newark (EWR) and Washington (IAD), will cover 19 routes in Europe and Brazil in the coming months. Together with Delta Air Lines, they are the only operators of the model in the world. United is refurbishing the 767’s 231-passenger interiors, reducing 9 seats, divided into 34 Polaris and 24 Premium Plus seats, along with 48 Economy Plus and 125 standard economy class seats.
- Boeing 777-200; United was the launch customer for the 777, currently covering the domestic market operating between its bases (Denver, Chicago, Newark, Washington, San Francisco and Los Angeles), Hawaii and Orlando. Configured for 364 seats, the highest seat density in United’s fleet, this means that some future Boeing 787s and A350s will have to be configured to cover these segments.
- Boeing 777-200ERs; based at Newark (EWR), Houston (IAH), Washington (IAD) and San Francisco (SFO), covering 39 routes in Asia-Pacific, Brazil, Argentina and Europe in the coming months.
