United Orders 100 Boeing 787s, Revises Airbus A350 Delivery Schedule

United Airlines has opted to order Boeing 787s to support a significant portion of its widebody replacement program, but the airline’s long-standing order for Airbus A350s remains intact—for now. 

The Chicago-based operator has ordered 100 787s and has options for 100 more. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2024 and continue through 2032. United said it has the flexibility to choose among the 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10 variants. 

It is not surprising United opted to stick with Boeing for the bulk of its widebody replacement. The airline operates 61 787s—16 787-10s, nine 787-8s and 36 787-9s—according to Aviation Week Network’s Fleet Discovery database. Only All Nippon Airways, with 68, has more.

United still has 45 A350-900s on order stemming from a 2012 agreement for 25 that was revised in 2013 and then again in 2017.

During a conference call to discuss United’s future widebody fleet, the airline’s CFO Gerry Laderman said the company has entered into an agreement with Airbus to modify the delivery schedule of the aircraft.

It is not the first time deliveries of those widebodies have been pushed back. Laderman stated the A350 deliveries are not scheduled to start until 2030 and added the Airbus widebody was a “really great option” as a 777 replacement. 

“But given the age of a good chunk of our 777s, the ultimate decision on what to replace the 777s with in their entirety is something we don’t have to decide right now,” United’s CFO said. 

During the time period of the scheduled 787 deliveries, United will have roughly 120 aircraft—its 767s and some 777s—that will reach 30 years of age, Laderman said. The 100 new 787s will replace the 767s and some of the 777s, he confirmed. United has declared all of its 767 should exit its fleet by 2030.

The Fleet Discovery database shows the airline has 30 767-300ERs and 12 767-400ERs in service. Three 767-300ERs are parked/in reserve and four are parked. Three of the 767-400ERs are parked and a single aircraft is in storage. 

Highlighting United’s existing large installed base of 787 widebodies, the company’s CEO Scott Kirby explained that in a “world where we’re trying to bring [in] 2,500 pilots a year and grow the airline, introducing a new fleet type slows that down dramatically.” 

Kirby also concluded the 787 was a better replacement for the 767s because the 787 is smaller, “and the right time for the [A]350 versus the 787s conversation is when we’re replacing the bulk of the 777s, which really doesn’t begin until the end of the decade.” 

The airline has 48 777-200ERs and 20 777-300ERs in service. United also operates 17 777-200s. Five of its 777s are parked/in reserve and six are parked. 

The airline has also added aircraft to its 737 MAX orderbook. United has exercised options to buy 44 of the aircraft for delivery from 2024 to 2026 and ordered another 56 of the narrowbody scheduled for delivery in 2027 and 2028. 

Beyond 2026, Laderman said United is looking at a combination of replacements for some of its oldest narrowbodies and “looking at potential incremental growth ... Whether those are replacement or growth, we don’t have to decide today, but we need to start thinking about filling the orderbook.”  

Prior to the latest expansion of its MAX orderbook, United had 341 of the narrowbodies on order, according to Fleet Discovery. The airline also has 120 A321neos in its orderbook. 

Counting the latest orders, United expects to take delivery of roughly 700 new narrow and widebody jets by year-end 2032 with an average of more than two each week in 2023 and over three each week in 2024.