Ah. The United Airlines Boeing 757. I can count the times I’ve been stuck aboard one of those things (before the last refurbishment), thinking “Isn’t time they got shot of these?”.
Well, it seems that United Airlines is going to be obtaining 50 Airbus A321XLR aircraft
United Airlines Airbus A321XLR – Rendering, Airbus
The 50 new frames will be used to replace and retire its existing fleet of Boeing 757-200 aircraft and further meet the airline’s operational needs by pairing the optimal aircraft with select transatlantic routes.
The A321XLR fleet will be based out of the airlines East Coast hubs in Newark/New York and Washington Dulles.
Planned introduction into service is during 2024.
In Quotes
Andrew Nocella, United’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer.
“The new Airbus A321XLR aircraft is an ideal one-for-one replacement for the older, less-efficient aircraft currently operating between some of the most vital cities in our intercontinental network,”
“In addition to strengthening our ability to fly more efficiently, the A321XLR’s range capabilities open potential new destinations to further develop our route network and provide customers with more options to travel the globe.”
Deferring A350s for now.
Meanwhile, the A350 aircraft that United Airlines have on order (for 45 frames) has been deferred again – this time delaying them to 2027.
According to United Airlines, this is “to better align with the carrier’s operational needs”.
United Airlines joins American Airlines and Indigo Partners (Frontier Airlines) as the third carrier in the USA to take the Airbus A321XLR. Other carriers who are taking the A321XLR include Middle Eastern Airlines, IAG Group, Qantas, Czech Airlines, Air Arabia, IndiGo, flyNAS and Air Asia. In addition, lessors Air Lease Corporation and GECAS have placed orders for the type
With Airbus positioning the A321XLR as a middle distance/middle capacity aircraft, it seems to be convincing customers this is the aircraft that can fit the magical “Middle Of the Market” product segment.
And with the continuing issues with competitors – it seems to be attracting the customers.
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Middle Easter Airlines? Does nobody proof read these articles?
Actually someone did. Alas, my editor, writer, checker and coffee maker are on industrial action – leaving yours truely to fix it.
And has been.
Thank you for playing
JetBlue has also ordered the XLR for their longer-range expansion plans. Airbus has a winner here, both as a plane for new expansion (Frontier, JetBlue) and 757 replacement.
I still have a soft spot for the 757, especially when I used to get upgrades on Continental from Tampa to Newark on the intercontinental-configuration 757s. You don’t need a lie-flat bed on a shortish domestic flight, but it’s still really nice. Even nicer when I got to fly in F from EWR to BRS, comfortable (for the day, at least) and avoiding Heathrow.