United Airlines announces major upgrades to their fleet

On June 29th, United announced plans to purchase 270 brand new Boeing and Airbus aircrafts. This is the biggest order by a US airline in a decade (American’s purchase of 460 aircrafts in 2011 was the previous large deal). United is adding 200 Boeing 737 MAX and 70 Airbus 321neo aircrafts to their fleet. They are also planning to retrofit all of their existing mainline narrow-body aircrafts by 2025 to the new standards.

In addition to the new modernized esthetics, the new United cabin will feature in-seat power at every seat, larger overhead bins and more premium cabin and Economy Plus® seats on every aircraft. The new product will also feature the fastest available in-flight Wi-Fi, seat back displays at every seat and Bluetooth capabilities so that passengers can connect to their wireless headphones.

This is a welcome and long-awaited development from the 3rd largest legacy US airline. Domestic passenger service in the US has been in dire need of modernization and a re-evaluation of the passenger experience. The newer fleet should also contribute to fewer maintenance issues which will improve the on-time performance of the airline. Fuel efficiency is expected to go up by 20 percent, which will reduce emissions and their carbon footprint.

Business travel is on the rebound. United’s optimistic view of the future and commitment to improving passenger experience is good news for all of us. 

Earlier this month, United also made news by publishing its roadmap to introducing Supersonic travel by committing to 15 Supersonic Overture aircrafts. Overture rollout is expected by 2025 (the year when the retrofit of United narrow body fleet is supposed to be completed) and the first passenger flight is planned for 2029. The aircraft will use biofuels and will be carbon neutral. It will cut travel time from NY to London to around 3 hours and from San Francisco to Tokyo to around 6. The new rollout was seen by many industry experts as a piece of public relations theater, where commitments were aspirational and no money changed hands. Nonetheless, if it comes to fruition, the aircrafts will be a game changer for long-haul travel.

References:

United Airlines, Inc

• Article name: Taking our fleet to new heights
• Article link: https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/company/new-and-improved-united-airlines-fleet.html

Boom Supersonic

• Article name: United becomes first U.S. airline to sign aircraft purchase agreement with Boom Supersonic
• Article link: https://boomsupersonic.com/united
• Media source: https://boomsupersonic.com/press