(New York) The American airline United Airlines has placed a firm order for 110 planes from manufacturers Boeing and Airbus, justified in particular by caution in the face of problems in the supply chain.
The order announced on Tuesday concerns 50 Boeing 787-9 “Dreamliners” for delivery between 2028 and 2031 and 60 Airbus A321neos for delivery between 2028 and 2030. At the list price of the two manufacturers, this represents, in total, 22.4 billion dollars.
“Normally, we wouldn’t order this far in advance,” noted Andrew Nocella, the airline’s commercial director, during an audio conference with journalists.
But “production lines are now regularly held up by problems in the supply chain and delivery delays are steadily increasing until the end of the decade,” he added, specifying that devices ordered in 2021 would “undoubtedly experience significant delays.”
Therefore, to be sure of having the necessary aircraft when it needs them, the company has already activated purchase options in 2021 and 2022.
At that time, “the sector was suffering from the scourge of the pandemic which allowed United to secure the best possible contractual conditions,” noted Mr. Nocella.
Third Bridge analyst Christopher Raite said the order is “consistent with United’s long-term growth plans and what we’ve seen from them in recent years.”
He pointed out, referring to the specialist site Planespotters, that the average age of the company’s fleet (16.4 years) was higher than that of its competitors Delta Air Lines (15.1 years) and American Airlines (12. 9 years).
The Chicago group also announced on Tuesday that it had placed new options of up to 50 additional Dreamliners and 40 more A321neos. At list price, that’s $19.7 billion.
“We are building a bright future for United and this order takes our already successful business plan into the next decade and beyond,” commented Scott Kirby, CEO of the company, quoted in a press release.
“I am confident that our strategy is the right one as we continue to add new, larger devices to take full advantage of the growing opportunities both internationally and domestically,” he said. added.
In total, the company expects the delivery of around 800 aircraft between 2023 and 2032.
The orders concern aircraft with larger capacities, to take into account the growing demand on the passenger side as airports reach saturation, like New York for example, as does the airspace near connecting platforms ( “hubs”) like London Heathrow, Mr. Nocella explained.
The trend “is not to build more runways,” he noted.
“We are going to use the largest single-aisle aircraft possible simply to be able to meet growing demand,” he said, expecting that a “disproportionate part of our growth in the second half of this decade will come from of international”.
“The American market has reached maturity,” he said.
And the interior layout of these planes is also evolving with a greater proportion devoted to more spacious and luxurious classes, such as Premium and Première.
“In 2019, we offered nine First Class seats per flight. Today, we offer thirteen and by 2027, we will offer sixteen,” detailed Mr. Nocella.
In electronic trading after the close of the New York Stock Exchange, United shares rose 0.17% to $40.60 and Boeing shares were almost stable (0.09%) at $189.09.
