Originally Posted by
GoingAway
I think the fact that so many of those new planes are sold to leasing companies and not direct to the airlines is also a key point ... UA will likely be able to lease a plane without the purchase without too much difficulty. Cost effective? That depends, but it's not that they won't be able to get them at all.
Precisely!^ This doesn't mean UA wont be flying new planes, just that they wont be buying them for now. I agree with others that just buying aircraft for the purpose of buying them is stupid if they don't exactly meet UA's needs.