Reuters reports that United Airlines 110 aircraft order from The Boeing Company and Airbus this week is part of a trend of US carriers moving to larger aircraft in order to deal with supply chain issues causing jet delivery delays. United Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella said, “The country is just not building a lot more runways and that’s just going to cause us to need to upgauge our aircraft to respond to growing demand.” Nocella “added that travel demand cannot be met without bigger planes.” The company “aims to increase average seats per departure in North America by more than 40% in 2027 from 2019.” United’s latest order “includes 50 Boeing 787-9 planes that it plans to operate on many routes currently being serviced by 767s.” That version of 787 “holds up to 129 more seats than the 767s in its fleet.” Similarly, the 60 Airbus A321neos “that United is buying can accommodate up to 30% more seats than some of Boeing’s 757s that it has been flying.”
Full Story (Reuters)
