United nears ‘triple-digit’ order for widebody jets

Bloomberg

United Airlines Holdings Inc. is closing in on an order for more than 100 widebody jets as it studies offers for Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner and Airbus SE’s A350.
The transaction would be one of the largest-ever purchases of long-range aircraft. It’s part of a broader push by Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby to upgrade United’s offering a little more than a year after the airline bought 270 narrowbody jets.
Kirby told pilots attending a Denver training session that the airline is planning a “triple-digit” order, and is studying multiple widebody models for a deal that may be announced by December. Other sources close to the talks have confirmed the potential deal size.
The timing and deal size have not been finalised and could still change.
The Chicago-based airline has 128 twin-aisle Boeing jets that are at least 20 years old, the age when maintenance costs typically soar, according to Cirium data. United only has seven Dreamliners on order, and has a repeatedly postponed deal for 45 Airbus A350 aircraft due later this decade.
The potential new order carries high stakes for Boeing and Airbus. Demand for pricey twin-aisle jets collapsed during the Covid-19 pandemic and is slowly recovering as borders reopen and business travellers return to the skies.
The rival planemakers have been tussling on various order campaigns as travel reopens, with Airbus coming out ahead in significant sales contests including a major Qantas order last December and a 292 jet single-aisle order from Chinese carriers worth $37 billion in the summer.
The potential United deal would rank among the largest widebody purchases, and winning it could hand Boeing a much-needed boost over its European rival. For Airbus, it would give a key endorsement of the A350 in the US market as the company seeks to boost sales of a freighter version of the plane.
United has been in talks with the planemakers for months as it hones its fleet plans.
The carrier operates an all-Boeing widebody fleet, and despite the Airbus order already on the books, United has been reluctant to introduce other models that would boost maintenance and pilot-training costs. Boeing could also sweeten its bid by offering some of its 120 already-built Dreamliners if United is looking for a quick fleet makeover.
Airbus holds leverage as well. The European planemaker could refashion the original A350 terms, and provide speedier deliveries of brand-new jets as Boeing recovers from a lengthy delivery halt for its 787. And Airbus could
dangle another perk: accelerating handovers of sought-after A321neo planes that United
ordered last year.
United has said little about its fleet plans since Airline Weekly reported in August that it was exploring a widebody order.
The airline is determining “what we want to do on the cadence of retirement” for its oldest planes like the Boeing 777 and 767, Gerry Laderman, United’s chief financial officer, told a Cowen conference last month. “But there’s nothing specific to announce right now.”