that makes sense. i'd love to see a "757 replacement" NSA/MOM with legs to fly TATL through the winter carrying something close to a full payload, but it doesn't look like boeing is heading in that direction.

considering what a potential 737-MAX10's capabilities will be, i don't see how a 50 year old airframe can be engineered to the point where it's significantly better than the A321neoLR. even if it's somehow slightly better, the fact is that A will have the LR flying years earlier than B will have a MAX10 in the air.

i don't believe the A330 and A320 family has/will have a common type rating. at least partially because of this, i can't see UA bringing in the A330neo when they could just order more dreamliners to fit essentially the same profile.

DL went with the A330 over the 787; this article provides some insight into that decision: http://airwaysnews.com/industry/anal...-availability/

A slightly related question: is Airways Magazine worth a subscription, or is their website good enough for a frequent check? I love these threads on the economics of the airline industry, so more of that would definitely be worth a few bucks to sub if it was good.

A330 for TATL: yay please. The 767s are great, the A330 would be a worthy successor. Having pairs of seats (with humane widths) is great, especially with lighter loads. (Also noteworthy: the 4-across is more humane than on other aircraft thanks to the double armrest in the middle.)

More A350s: yay too. The 787 and 777 are/will be dire, should be banished...

Sticking with the decrepit 737? Really, what are you thinking. Apart from a very few special passengers, no one likes it. Make passengers and crews happier with a slightly more modern and wide plane please.

i don't subscribe to any airline industry pubs, but i find AM to have better substance and analysis than other more 'clickbaity' sources like leeham.

LH 333s don't sound very humane for long-haul at 31 pitch / 17 width, and there are quite a few others which are 31/17-17.5.

Please... not even jokingly 😣

It doesn't seem to make much sense to have a fleet with duplicative capabilities. I'm not sure what a 330 gets you in the context of the UA fleet that a 787 doesn't, except increased MX and staffing complexity.

It seems that UA has an upcoming gap in the fleet, which will be the ex-UA PS 757s. Depending on how the US economy shakes out over the next few years, it may make sense to replace and expand that fleet to compete in some other premium markets (BOS-SFO) and do some of the 2ndary close-EU markets. The 321neoLR would likely be the right aircraft to do that with.

I've never been in an LH A330, but I remember the LX A330 exit rows feeling quite comfortable, whereas 787/3-4-3 777/737 exit rows/bulkheads feel narrow. And with the pairs+double-armrests, you won't end up stuck between two people with no space to move as you would in the middle of a 3 on most aircraft (never mind the middle 4 on a downgraded 777, which must be torture).

I've also recently started questioning published seat widths since there's a mix of inside-armrest and width-per-passenger measurements, and the latter is what really counts. E.g. the UA 747 also has "17 inch" seats, but that's because it has huge armrests, and the space per passenger is noticeably better than on a 3-4-3 777 despite both being published at 17".

Unfortunately it looks like some airlines don't subscribe to the pair-units on the A330, e.g. there's seemingly no double central armrest on Delta...

The MD-80/88 Y seats are a heck of a lot more comfortable than just about anything that UA offers at present.

They do not; it's about a 7 day CCQ to transition between them.

https://imagr.eu/up/GM8iU_Airbus-com...e-rating-2.png

Please. We've already seen that customers don't even care about service (if they did, airlines like NK and UA would not be in business). They sure as heck don't care about whether the aircraft carrying them says Boeing or Airbus on the side.

Please...leave this stuff for airliners.net

Regular customers don't even think of what manufacture of aircraft they are flying

I do when the UA Airbii have at most 12 FC seats and no shot at DirecTV. I'm also not sure I'm crazy about the whole "fly-by-wire" thing (and I'm a regular customer...no Ex-Lax for me).

not only that, but the A330 really isn't a TPAC aircraft. it's great for TATL, no question. airlines like DL, with more TATL routes than UA, have a much better business case to fly the A330.

UA, OTOH, is more dependent on TPAC flying. while the 788/9 versus the A339 may be a "close call" for DL, the TPAC capability of the 787 makes it, IMO, the clear winner for UA compared to the A330. there's no need for UA to have a restricted fleet (like the current 77A) when the economics between the two are so close.

Well you might want to stay out of Boeing widebodies if you don't like FBW. Moreover, I've heard of a fair few pilots who prefer the A320 to the 737, and none in the reverse.

I think I'll trust the pilots opinions more on what's better (the 787 is still suffering from technical problems, which doesn't seem all that great though, regardless of anything else).

Seating configuration is entirely an airline decision though.