Originally Posted by
PacificClipper
It’s believed that United will be announcing a large aircraft order on Tuesday. There’s speculation that the order will include 20 787-10s. That would be the right amount to replace the 20 domestic 777s where other fan blade cracks have been found. Further speculation is that the PW 777ERs, that have Polaris/PP, will return after the engine modification plan is finalized and installation completed.
Let’s see what Tuesday brings.
I agree with this, however I don't think that the PW issue is the sole cause as to why the 78X order is being placed. When these 78Xs start getting delivered the PW 777s will be between 25 and 30 years old, even if the PW issue didn't occur UA would need to replace these aircraft.
It is my understanding that UA is going to repair as many of the PW engines that they can (ER and non-ER) and fly them until they have replacements. UA will also shortly need even more aircraft for widebody replacement, out of the 74 772s UA has only 10 are under 20 years old (with only 4 under 15 years old). This leads me to think that UA will take the A350s, which I have been skeptical of for a long time.