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United Airlines to add 25 new Boeing 737-700s
The new 737-700 aircraft will enable United to continue utilizing larger, more efficient aircraft as the airline reduces the size of its 50-seat regional fleet. United expects to have fewer than 100 aircraft in its 50-seat fleet by the end of 2019.


Mar 8 fleet update.

deltajuliet

Kind of surprised they plan for any 50-seat aircraft in 2019. I guess contracts have to run their course and fuel is still cheap (for now).

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United Airlines Announces Fleet Update
Company to add 25 new Boeing 737-700s; plans to accelerate retirement of Boeing 747s
March 08, 2016
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CHICAGO, March 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today announced an order to purchase 25 new Boeing 737-700 aircraft. The order is in addition to the previously announced order of 40 737-700s. United will take delivery of the aircraft beginning at the end of 2017.
United Airlines to add 25 new Boeing 737-700s
The new 737-700 aircraft will enable United to continue utilizing larger, more efficient aircraft as the airline reduces the size of its 50-seat regional fleet. United expects to have fewer than 100 aircraft in its 50-seat fleet by the end of 2019.
The next-generation 737-700s provide a superior customer experience by featuring cabin enhancements including larger overhead bins that can accommodate additional carry-on bags. The aircraft's Boeing Sky Interior creates a larger sense of space through sculpted sidewall panels and LED cabin lighting that mimics soft blue skies and sunset colors.
United also announced that the carrier will retire its 747 fleet from scheduled service by the end of 2018. Additionally, the airline announced that it will be converting 787 orders originally anticipated for delivery in 2020 and beyond into four 777-300ERs and five 787-9s beginning in 2017. These conversions will accommodate the accelerated retirement of the 747s while also meeting United's capacity needs.
"The new 737-700 aircraft are ideal for our fleet as we continue to reduce our reliance on 50-seat aircraft," said Gerry Laderman, United's senior vice president of finance and acting chief financial officer. "Retiring the 747 fleet and replacing those aircraft with more customer-pleasing, current generation aircraft creates a more reliable and efficient fleet that provides a better overall experience for our customers traveling on long-haul flights."
In addition to this announcement, United currently has firm orders for 35 Airbus A350-1000s, 153 aircraft from the Boeing 737 family, 10 Boeing 777-300ERs, and 27 Boeing 787s. The airline also has firm orders for 10 Embraer E175 aircraft that United Express partners will operate.

WesternSkies

50 seaters have a lot of seats to fill on some routes, I really don't think it goes away without a replacement of equal capacity.
You could actually take a few seats out and charge a premium to fly in to a few markets.

MKUltra

If I had to guess commutair will do a lot of the 50 seat lift out of the east coast...if they can grow

amcnd

Who can predict 2019. I know United surely can't!!!

MacrossJet

This doesn't sound too good for the ERJ side of XJT!

Flip69

You are correct. My guess is they will have much less than 100 of them.

HercDiver

CommutAir will have 40 of them. I'm sure XJT will still operate some. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

awax

Or you could look at it from the macro level and remove service completely from markets that currently only support 50 seat aircraft. The economic reality is that many smaller markets are failing the "cost to operate vs. incremental network return" equation. A reasonable assumption is that some current 50 seat markets will do well with a larger aircraft (76 seat RJ), and others will be abandoned.

At UAL, the ALPA CBA "scope choke" will dictate the maximum number of RJ's being flown as UA has apparently made the decision to not introduce a new small narrow body aircraft.