United Airlines (UA, Chicago O’Hare) is becoming “more hopeful” that the B737-10 will eventually start operating for the carrier. Chief financial officer Mike Leskinen said during the airline’s investor call that the type, once removed from United’s future fleet plan due to delays, will be an important upgauging opportunity.

“We like the B737-9s. The MAX 9 is a great aircraft, but we are [seeing that] Boeing [is] starting to make some real progress in improving their business. We are becoming more bullish on the MAX 10,” he said.

“Whether it is the MAX 9 or 10, our gauge is going to increase a lot. So the -10 would be great, but I’m counting on the -9 and the A321neo to [achieve those plans]. If we have the -10 available to us, that only helps us even further,” chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella added.

In the meantime, United says it will continue relying on the narrowbody B737-9 (it currently operates 85 with 135 on order) as well as the A321-200NX (it operates 29 with 121 on order), and A321-200NY(XLR) (50 on order) types to further expand its capacity.

In January 2024, United Airlines removed the B737-10 from its internal fleet plans after Boeing failed to meet contractual delivery deadlines. The original agreement had projected the delivery of up to eighty MAX 10s in 2024, seventy-one in 2025, and the remaining 126 in 2026 and beyond, as noted in the airline’s 2023 annual report.

Boeing is still working to certify both the B737-10 and the smaller B737-7 models. According to a recent regulatory filing, the manufacturer said it is seeking a temporary regulatory exemption for a stall management yaw damper (SMYD) system on both aircraft types to be valid until October 2028 while updating the analyses required for the software’s certification.

United’s mainline fleet currently consists of 1,010 aircraft, while the regional fleet has 422. The goal is to increase both fleets to 1,054 and 428 by the end of the year, receiving up to seven additional B787s, fifteen B737 MAX, twenty-two A321neo, and six CRJs while also retiring some older A319-100s and A320-200s.

The airline closed the year with a net profit of USD3.1 billion. In 2025, it plans to add nine new international destinations during the summer season, including eight unserved by other US carriers: Ulaanbaatar International, Nuuk, Kaohsiung, Palermo International, Bilbao, Faro, Funchal, Puerto Escondido, and Dakar Blaise Diagne International.

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