UA orders 25 Airbus A350XWB + 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliner

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

Press Release

CHICAGO, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Airlines today announced a significant investment in the company's future with a widebody aircraft order that will enable the carrier to reduce operating costs and better match aircraft to key markets it serves, while providing its customers with state-of-the-art cabin comfort. The new technology aircraft will reduce fuel burn and environmental impact, while enabling service to a broader array of international destinations. United ordered 25 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft and 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and has future purchase rights for 50 of each aircraft

 

[phllax]

Sounds like the same thing PanAm did with the 707 & DC8 - order both and then go with the one with the best performance for their network.

 

[scuba]

What a good day for United Airlines! What a bad day for United Airlines.

New aircraft on the way after all these years. Bu-bye to the B777, B747 and B7676. I can't imagine how much longer behind that the B757 will go as well. Is this just the long downward spiral TWA was in because they didn't have anybody interested in running an airline.

Well, if your interested, I would be more than happy to take over and grow the airline with the help of the Unions and some very closely held ideas that would ensure UAL doesn't go the way of TWA, Braniff, Eastern, Western, PanAm, et al.

Four rules:
1. Be ontime everytime.
2. Overdeliver on all pledges made to employees and customers. Establish an employee board to open up all routes to profitablity. Truly follow the rules of the road. The biggest goal is the more UA earns, the more available for reinvestment, revival and retirement.
3. Put American's back to work. Americans build aircrafts. Americans fix planes. Americans take phone calls, Americans help you out whenever you need help.
4. Grow up and be number one again, not by express, but mainline growth.

Well, heads up, things are starting to look better with this order.

 

[whatkindoffreshhell]

Deliveries begin in 2016. Talk to you then....

 

[ZMAN777]

What a good day for United Airlines! What a bad day for United Airlines.

New aircraft on the way after all these years. Bu-bye to the B777, B747 and B7676. I can't imagine how much longer behind that the B757 will go as well. Is this just the long downward spiral TWA was in because they didn't have anybody interested in running an airline.

Hmmm? I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say here. If I'm reading you right you're bemoaning the fact that old airplanes will be parked and more efficient ones will replace them. I don't understand.....how is this a bad thing?

Hey, I love what we currently are flying but let's face it, so did the guys flying the DC-8, DC-10, 727's, etc. Right now they're loving the 777's, the 767's, and the 747's! Our oldest 747 is past 20 years, the oldest 777 is at 14.5 years, and our first 767-300 has been doing duty for just shy of 19 years.

When Steve Wolf inked the huge deal with Boeing that ushered in the new 747's and 777's it was a stellar moment. This deal may not seem to be the same but when you look at it from a long-term strategic viewpoint it signals where UAL "intends" to focus and how it's planning on doing so with operating cost savings as a key element.

Yeah, so the 747's and 777's will eventually be replaced by A350's. So what. Who really cares especially IF the new airplanes, both Boeing and Airbus, actually deliver the efficiencies they promise and our customers get a better product to fly. The increased range the new aircraft promise to deliver has the potential to open up many more city pairs than we currently can operate due to range limitations.

Now, the big unknown is what will replace the 757 lift. We currently operate 97 757's and the 787 is a much bigger aircraft so I seriously doubt that'll be replacing the 757's. The A321 is old technology and really isn't in the same league with the 757. At this point nothing really is. Perhaps Boeing will see how the 787 does and make a narrow-body variant of it (i.e. 767/757) that will enable a single type rating for both aircraft. Airbus I believe is in a more precarious position here as they really don't have anything in the 200 seat range that can fill that need, the A330 being much too big and also "old" technology.

As the size of the order goes the current firm order and possible options seems about right. The current UAL widebody fleet is 113 aircraft (26 -400's/52-777's/35-767's). The options on the 787 side of the order probably accounts for some growth as the aircraft will definitely have the range to open up a lot of long thin markets and increased hub-to-hub lift.

As others have stated, we'll know a lot more in a few years. But right now I'm pretty pleased with what cards have been turned up.

Cheers,
Z B)