United Airlines places massive order of 150 Boeing 737s
United Airlines has ordered 150 Boeing 737s, a huge order and a big win for Boeing.
United Continental Holdings and its wholly owned subsidiary, United Air Lines (the world’s largest airline by traffic) ordered 50 B737-900ERs. They will begin arriving late next year. The airlines is also buying 100 new 737 Max 9s, a revamped 737 fitted with new engines and other improvements to fuel efficienty. Those start arriving at United in 2018.
Boeing said the United order brought total orders for this newest member of the 737 family to over 10,000.
US reports said that the 737-900ERs would replace older 757-200s, a type that Boeing no longer makes.
Boeing said the deal was worth USD14.7 billion “at list prices”. (United would probably have received a reasonable discount for an order of that size.) The AUD is on par with the USD at the moment so the price is about the same in either currency.
“This order is a major step in building the world’s leading airline, and we look forward to offering our customers the modern features and reliability of new Boeing airplanes, while also making our fleet more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly,” said Jeff Smisek, United’s president and chief executive. “New aircraft deliveries support our flexible fleet plan, permitting us to tailor future capacity up or down, based on changes in demand or other market conditions.”
United is the North American launch customer for the 737 MAX 9. The order continues the momentum for the 737 MAX, which now has more than 1,200 orders and commitments from 18 customers. Counting all variants, the 737 program now stands at 10,039 orders. Boeing points out that this further confirms the 737 as the undisputed best-selling jetliner in the world.
“United and Boeing share a rich history together and we are delighted United has chosen the 737 for its future fleet, renewing our partnership for decades to come,” said Ray Conner, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “We believe the 737 provides unsurpassed quality and value in the market and will provide efficiencies and other benefits to United’s operations.”
Boeing says the Next-Generation 737 is the most fuel-efficient and reliable single-aisle airplane today with an 89% per-seat operating cost advantage over the nearest competitor.
“To witness the first commercial airplane to surpass 10,000 orders is monumental,” said Beverly Wyse, vice president and general manager of the 737 program. “The 737 has continuously evolved and provides improved performance, reliability and exceptional value for our customers.”
United Airlines and United Express operate an average of 5605 flights a day to 375 airports on six continents. In 2011, United flew more than two million flights that carried 142 million passengers, more than any other airline.
Written by : Peter Needham
