United Considering 737 Max 10 and A321neo
 

Boeing Woos United and Lion in a Bid to Boost Max 10 Launch
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-max-10-launch

"Boeing Co. is in talks with United Airlines and at least five other companies as the U.S. planemaker tries to line up initial customers for its 737 Max 10 jetliner and gain ground on a fast-selling Airbus SE model, people familiar with the matter said."

"United Continental Holdings Inc. is studying whether to convert 61 orders for the 737 Max to the -10 version, while taking a handful of Boeing 777-300ERs, the largest twin-engine jetliner currently flying, some of the people said. The carrier gained the production slots last year after it converted an earlier order for the Boeing 737-700 to the Max. The Chicago-based airline is also considering an A321neo order, the people said."

For the love of all things good, please pick the Airbuses.

It's UA. You know they're going to take the MAX10, even if (especially if?) it's a real dog. The only hope would be that if they want to cancel some of their A35K orders, maybe substituting to A321s would be an easy out.

Honestly, I might prefer the 737-MAX10. Before someone yells at me, hear me out. UA puts less first class seats on the A319 and A320 (8 and 12) then they do on the 737 and 738 (12 and 16). The trend is to add 4 seats for every larger variant, as the 739 then has 20 seats. This would mean a A321 would have 16 first class seats while a MAX10 would have 24. Much better chance of an upgrade with 50% more first class seats.

Of course, this logic may not hold up because UA can put however many first class seats it wants on any plane. But I'm just following the trend...

As someone who knows very little about either of these aircraft, could someone explain why there appears to be a negative bias toward the 737-MAX10?

Couldn't UA install the same slimline seats on either aircraft?

I'm just guessing here, but the A321 seats can be about one inch wider with the same aisle width as on any 737.

I'd take A321s over 737s any day.

The Airbus fuselage is slightly wider than the 737's so the seats are half an inch wider (17.7" vs 17.2"). The lavs are also roomier. Makes for a more comfortable ride.

For us up front, the Airbus has a quieter cockpit and slower takeoff and landing speeds which makes our job a bit more pleasant.

I fly the 737 for the (currently) better trips but I prefer to ride in the A320/319 when I'm traveling.

That's just how pmUA configured those aircraft when they were purchased. Has nothing to do with how they would configure a 321neo.

Regardless whether they pick the 321 or the 737-MAX10, it's going to be a new configuration.

As already noted, the Airbus are wider and quieter.

Pretty please

Bolding mine: Sadly, this

The 321 feels more like the 757. Does the MAX10 feel more like 737 or 757?

As a passenger, I'm hoping for the Max 10. I think that's the best chance for a good F-ratio, and I prefer the Boeing interiors by a slight margin. I'll trade the unnoticeable seat width for other details like the windows, PSUs, and BSI.

I also think this is UA's chance to go all-Boeing with narrowbodies in the long-term. I believe that will be a factor.

They're so close though that either plane will do. Not a big enough difference either way to make a fuss over it.

Don't know. It doesn't exist yet.

Boeing is claiming 5% better fuel burn on comparable seat count to the relevant 321 variant. United's accountants won't care about fractions of an inch in coach seat width.

While true on the current generation both OEMs have new lav options available that are pretty awful. The lav at 1L will always be about the same size as it is today but in the back there are the high density options that mostly suck. And those are flying on both Airbus and Boeing. The Airbus version is slightly work IME.