United Airlines to announce order for 110 Airbus, Boeing jets – sources

By Valerie Insinna

(Reuters) -United Airlines is set to announce an order for 110 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus on Tuesday, a purchase that includes 50 widebody Boeing 787 Dreamliners, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The order will also include 60 A321 narrowbody jets from France’s Airbus, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Airbus did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Boeing and United declined to comment.

Bloomberg was first to report the Airbus order but did not include aircraft numbers.

Both Airbus and Boeing have laid out ambitious goals as air travel and aircraft sales rebound, with Airbus producing in-demand single-aisle planes even faster than the U.S. planemaker.

Last year, United Airlines unveiled a huge order of 100 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 100 737 MAXs to cope with demand as pandemic restrictions eased and to replace older, less-efficient aircraft.

At the time, the order had sparked concerns about United Airlines’ balance sheet. The company has said it expects to take delivery of about 700 jets by 2032, the cost of which may reach $50 billion, according to brokerage Jefferies.

The rush to order jets comes amid a boom in travel demand and as airlines face increasing pressure to cut emissions.

Some analysts have said new aircraft shortages due to a broken supply chain have spooked airlines into placing large orders for jets.

(Reporting by Valerie Insinna in Washington; Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, William Maclean and Bernadette Baum)