Christine Boynton March 01, 2024
United Airlines Boeing 737-10
Credit: Boeing
Of the 191 contractual aircraft deliveries originally slated for 2024, United Airlines expects to receive just 88 this year.
Following through with expectations announced during the carrier’s latest earnings call, the adjusted fleet plan is now detailed in a Feb. 29 10-K filing.
United’s Contractual Aircraft Deliveries for 2024 are listed as eight Boeing 787s, 157 MAXs (43 737-8s, 34 737-9s, 80 737-10s), and 26 Airbus A321neos. By the end of 2022, United had projected 127 deliveries in 2024 comprising eight 787s, 88 MAXs, and 31 A321neos.
Deliveries expected this year now number seven 787s, 56 MAXs (37 – 8s, 19 – 9s, zero – 10s) and 25 A321neos. In 2025, it projects 64 deliveries versus 135 contractual, having removed 71 – 10s.
United’s adjustments stem from the January 737-9 groundings and related uncertainty for certification of the 737-10, a variant since removed from United’s internal plans without canceling the order.
“If the Company is unable to acquire additional aircraft at acceptable prices from Boeing or Airbus, or if Boeing or Airbus fails to make timely deliveries of aircraft… the Company’s operations could be materially and adversely affected,” United writes in its annual filing for 2023.
At a recent investors conference, CFO and EVP Mike Leskinen said United would work around delivery delays to keep on a trajectory of growth, despite its original reliance on the – 10.
“If the MAX 10 were available today we would still have our foot firmly on the gas,” Leskinen said at the Feb. 20 event. United can extend the life of older airframes – “not my favorite option because some… are ready to retire,” the CFO noted, while voicing another option to “mix some additional Airbus product” into its Boeing-heavy fleet.
“We are going to continue to grow at a rate materially above GDP, as far as I can see,” Leskinen said. “The mixture of that growth had been reliant on MAX 10s, and what you’re going to see now is much more MAX 9 and [A]321 aircraft, the mix of which I don’t know yet – it depends on the prices.”
Additional A321neos could join United’s fleet as early as 2025, according to a report from Bloomberg, with potential production slots made available by recent JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines deferments. Year-end filings show JetBlue now expects to take delivery of 25 A321neos between 2024-27 versus a year-ago plan for 50. Spirit has extended deliveries for certain A320neos and A321neos from a 2025-27 timeframe to a widened 2025-29 span and deferred other A320neos from 2024 to 2025 and beyond, expecting its capacity for 2024 to be flat to up by mid-single-digits.
Currently, United operates 712 Boeing aircraft, or 82% of its in-service fleet, according to the Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database, with 220 Airbus aircraft on order and 506 Boeing, 271 of which are – 10s.
Christine Boynton is a Senior Editor covering air transport in the Americas for Aviation Week Network.