United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) has announced in its 2024 third-quarter financial results that it entered into new definitive lease agreements with several unnamed lessors covering forty A321neo. The new planes are expected to be delivered in 2026 and 2027, increasing the carrier’s leasing obligations from USD3.7 billion to approximately USD4 billion.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows United Airlines has a fleet of 972 planes in its mainline: eighty-one A319-100s, seventy-nine A320-200s, fifteen A321-200NX, forty B737-700s, 105 B737-8s, eighty-two B737-9s, 141 B737-800s, twelve B737-900s, 136 B737-900ERs, forty B757-200s, twenty-one B757-300s, thirty-seven B767-300ERs, sixteen B767-400ERs, nineteen B777-200s, fifty-five B777-200ERs, twenty-two B777-300ERs, twelve B787-8s, thirty-eight B787-9s, and twenty-one B787-10s.
It leases 115 aircraft from eleven lessors: AerCap, Air Lease Corporation, Aircastle, Aviation Capital Group, Aviator Capital, BOC Aviation, CDB Aviation, Macquarie AirFinance, ORIX Aviation, SkyWorks Leasing, and SMBC Aviation Capital which is set to lease United a total of twenty A321neo jets.
United Airlines already has firm commitments for 686 jets, including 150 B787s, eighteen B737-8s, 141 B737-9s, 167 B737-10s, 115 A321neo, fifty A321-200NY(XLR)s, and fifty A350-900s.
“In the fourth quarter, we expect to take delivery of 19 narrowbody aircraft and three widebody aircraft; our estimate accounts for our current assessment of the impact of delays at both Airbus and Boeing,” said Mike Leskinen, United’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, during the airline’s investors call.
The carrier has contractual deliveries for 81 aircraft in 2025 (eighteen B787s, forty MAX 9s and twenty-three A321neo). However, it actually expects to receive 78: eleven B787s, sixteen MAX 8s, twenty-eight MAX 9s, and twenty-three A321neo.
In the nine months ending September 30, United Airlines reported USD42.36 billion in total operating revenue and USD2.16 billion in net profit.
