Originally Posted by
jsloan
UA has the 77W (777-300ER). The 77X (777-8 and 777-9, styled as "777X") isn't available yet, and UA hasn't shown any particular interest in purchasing it.
However, I suspect that this is a dodge, and that the 772HD will eventually be replaced by the 777-9 and the Polaris 772/77W will be replaced by the 777-8.
I continue to maintain that if UA wanted the A350, they'd already have it. I'm sure they're continuing to look for a way to get out from under the Rolls Royce engine contract while presumably using the threat of actually taking delivery to extract a better price from Boeing.
Thanks... I carelessly messed up my lettering. Will there be any commonality between the 777-8/9 and the 787 series? I suppose there isn't any good way to answer that now anyway. Unless airlines can have crew commonality with the 787, it's not obvious what the advantage will be for the 777-8/9 over the existing A350 once the current fleet of 772 and 77W has to be replaced. Also, I've assumed all along the 789 mostly replaces a 772 anyway but that might be wrong.