CNBC reports, “United forecast first-quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ estimates as the carrier seeks to grow earnings again in 2025 thanks to strong travel demand. The airline said Tuesday that it expects to earn an adjusted 75 cents to $1.25 in the first three months of the year, above the 54 cents analysts had expected, according to LSEG estimates.”
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Tag: United Airlines
FAA Ends Review Launched After Spike in United Incidents
Aerotime reports the FAA “has concluded a six-month review of United Airlines that the agency launched in March 2024, after several high-profile safety incidents. … On October 2, 2024, the FAA gave United the all clear after completing its evaluation.”
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Airline Industry Has One of Its Safest Years In 2023
FlightGlobal reports, “While the airline industry might have had an inauspicious start to 2024 in safety terms, it can still point to a recent safety record that is both historically impressive and broadly moving in the right direction.”
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FAA Orders Airlines to Ground Some Boeing 737 Max 9 Jets After Midair Emergency
The New York Times reported that on Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered Alaska Airlines and United Airlines “to stop using some Boeing 737 Max 9 planes until they were inspected, less than a day after one of those planes lost a chunk of its body in midair, terrifying passengers until the plane landed safely.”
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FAA to Set New Maintenance Requirements for Pratt & Whitney PW1100G Engines
FlightGlobal reports that the FAA “plans to place new maintenance requirements on airlines after learning that more components in Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines may be affected by a powder-metal manufacturing problem.” The FAA “laid out new proposed requirements in a regulatory filing released on 11 December, saying some PW1100G rotors, hubs and air seals will need ‘accelerated replacement’ due to the manufacturing issue.” The proposal “would affect 430 US-registered PW1100Gs, which power Airbus A320neo-family jets.”
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American, Delta, United Driving MRO Spending in North America
Aviation Week reported that the North American MRO market “is projected to account for 21.8% of the worldwide total from 2024-33.” This will “derive from more than 67,000 service events, according to the 2024 edition of Aviation Week Network’s Commercial Aviation Fleet & MRO Forecast.” The active North American aircraft fleet “increases from just more than 9,480 active aircraft in 2024 to more than 11,200 in 2033, an 18% increase during the period.” This growth “of the fleet and the commensurate utilization expected will drive MRO spending to increase by more than 9.3% over 10 years.” The forecast “projects that Boeing aircraft will account for the majority of MRO expenditures by type certificate holder, capturing more than 57% of the total market, followed by Airbus (29%) and Embraer (7%).”
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US Airlines Moving to Larger Aircraft to Combat Operating Challenges
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.”
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United Airlines Partners with Archer Aviation for Chicago Air Taxis
CBS News Chicago reports that United Airlines “is teaming up with Archer Aviation to provide air taxi service between O’Hare International Airport and the West Loop starting in 2025, at the same time construction on the Kennedy Expressway will be causing major delays for outbound traffic. United and Archer plan to launch the city’s first air taxi route between O’Hare and Vertiport Chicago on the Near West Side close to Pilsen and the Illinois Medical District, offering 10-minute rides between the airport and the downtown area.”
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United Reaches Deal with Boeing for Up to 200 787 Dreamliners
The New York Times reports, “United Airlines plans to buy at least 100 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets by 2032 as it replaces aging planes with newer, more fuel-efficient models and pursues international growth, the airline announced on Tuesday.” The deal, expected to be “worth tens of billions of dollars at list prices, comes a little more than a year after United said it planned to buy 270 single-aisle planes – the largest purchase of U.S. aircraft in a decade.” The deal includes an option for 100 additional Dreamliners, as the carrier seeks to “drop 100 Boeing 767 and 777 wide-body planes from its fleet by 2030.”
Full Story (New York Times)
United Airlines Aiming to Fly Electric Planes by 2030
CNBC reports that as United Airlines aims for net zero by 2050, it looks to fly electric planes on regional routes by 2030. The battery-powered aircraft are under development by “Swedish start-up Heart Aerospace,” and United ordered 100 of them in 2021 as well as making an undisclosed investment in the company. United Airlines Ventures President Mike Leskinen said, “We cannot continue doing and operating our business the way we do; it is imperative that we change it, and the way we’re going to change it is through investing in technology. Existing technology is going to either cause us to fly less, which is an unacceptable alternative, or continue with a carbon footprint, which we believe is equally unacceptable.”
Full Story (CNBC)