Just last year, US airlines were struggling due to lockdowns caused by the rising number of COVID19 worldwide. This time around, thanks to the vaccination rollout in the US, the US airline industry is slowly making a comeback. If you’ll examine the numbers, air travelers are already near 2019’s level. United Airlines announced that they made a bulk order of 270 new planes from Boeing and Airbus.
According to United’s Andrew Nocella, “It’s a plan that’s a nose-to-tail plan for the future”. He added that this was something that the company has been planning all along for the past years. What makes this a big deal is that it is the biggest jet purchase by a US airline in the last decade. In 2011, American Airlines invested in 460 planes.
If you are going to take into account the new planes that United already ordered in the past, the airline is expected to have 500 new planes in the coming years. United Airlines anticipates replacing older planes and ultimately expand its fleet.
This isn’t the only thing that you can expect from United. The airline is also looking to retrofit the narrow-body planes to make the aircraft more premium. Apart from improving the seat, you can also expect seatback entertainment and improved carry-on bag storage.
United’s Toby Enqvist on Monday said that they are looking to make the “gate-checked bags a thing of the past”. Future passengers can expect to have more space for carry-on bags even if the flight is full.
United ordered 200 Boeing 737 Max series and 70 Airbus A321neos planes. According to United, this move will benefit the airline industry and could even cause a ripple effect on the entire economy. This could create 25,000 new unionized United jobs plus, it could indirectly generate jobs for different travel destinations.
Though it seems illogical to make such a big purchase today, this isn’t the case. Borrowing money is relatively cheap and with rising fuel prices, the new fuel-efficient planes can be a good solution in the future.
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