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United to buy more NEW 763/4? [Rumor]

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Old Oct 20, 2017, 12:51 pm
  #46  
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Originally Posted by findark
8-across is definitely possible; some carriers such as MT (Thomas Cook) have 767s flying today with a 2-4-2 configuration in Y.
I do, however, think that it would be beyond the pale and UA won't do it.
As long as they keep the 2-seat sides I don't care how many seats they cram into the middle. I'm still irked with CO-dba-UA modifying the UA 777s from 2-5-2 to 3-3-3.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 1:15 pm
  #47  
 
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Originally Posted by UASleeper
If it's all about acceleration of the AF order why is there talk about 50+ new frames? "Acceleration" and 50+ new frames seems like two different things to me unless it's the AF who al the sudden needs 50 additional tankers. Of course, since it is all rumors, who knows what is "fake news" and what is not...
I'm simply relating what he told me today. Who knows what is real and what is fake. Didn't we have a day or two a few years ago that said UA was on the cusp of buying A380's? I tried to search but didn't find it.

Thankfully my UA pilot friends and I agree that they know nothing more than internal rumors. Much like a college dorm, nobody will know until announced. That said, the AF rumor was one I didn't expect, so who knows.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 2:09 pm
  #48  
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Originally Posted by COSPILOT
I'm simply relating what he told me today. Who knows what is real and what is fake. Didn't we have a day or two a few years ago that said UA was on the cusp of buying A380's? I tried to search but didn't find it.

Thankfully my UA pilot friends and I agree that they know nothing more than internal rumors. Much like a college dorm, nobody will know until announced. That said, the AF rumor was one I didn't expect, so who knows.
June of 2015.

Rumor: UA may buy A380 {UA CFO says "just doesn’t really work for us"}
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 2:33 pm
  #49  
 
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Originally Posted by goodeats21
Thank you.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 2:47 pm
  #50  
 
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Originally Posted by Exleftseat
Bingo! That was the first question UA Management asked themselves after the heard the rumored news. Although they left the word "reasonable" out. More like : There must be a way to go 8-across.
Surely there is, involving an 1-1.5" less per seat (partly from narrower armrests) combined with narrower aisles.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 2:54 pm
  #51  
 
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Originally Posted by DA201
Apparently, the planes would replace the oldest 763s and be in the fleet until UA receives enough 797s in the late 2020s. UA would then sell the planes to cargo airlines, who are buying every 767 available right now. Honestly, a 767 with slightly better wings/engine would be great in today's fuel environment.
Good. The old UA 767s in Y especially are garbage. 764s are much nicer.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 2:59 pm
  #52  
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Originally Posted by ual763
There is no possible way that they could cram 8 across, let alone 9 across.
https://cdn.seatguru.com/airlines/Th...7-300ER_V3.php
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 3:03 pm
  #53  
 
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Originally Posted by drewguy
Basic question - why are planes that are considered inefficient for passenger purposes desirable to cargo airlines/usage?
I know a pilot who switched from flying for FedEx to a pax airline (DL I believe) and he always gets asked whether he prefers cargo or pax. His simple answer is "Boxes don't b**tch".

Cargo simply doesn't need a bright and shiny new fuel efficient plane. It just has to get from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 8:31 pm
  #54  
 
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Originally Posted by FWAAA
Cargo doesn't care about the age of the plane (or average fleet age);

Cargo doesn't care about the amenities of the new planes like higher pressurization (lower effective cabin altitude) or higher cabin humidity;

Cargo doesn't require ultra-longhaul nonstop flights;

etc.

Cargo shippers don't mind if the plane stops for fuel and pilot change - and many FedEx and UPS flights do just that at ANC each day. Fuel efficiency that 787s and A350 can deliver on ultra-longhaul flights isn't an issue on 6-8 hour flights. With a few exceptions, cargo doesn't fly 16-18 hour flights and no cargo shipper would pay a premium for a nonstop the way some business travelers do.

On a very long passenger flight, the plane burns a lot of fuel carrying the fuel necessary for the long flight. That requires a very efficient plane. Not so much on those 6-8 hour cargo flights. So a slightly less efficient cargo plane does not impose the same penalty as it would if flown by a passenger airline.
Agree with all of your points. I would like to add another one in total cost. With new aircraft, there is a huge up front cost, but then lower cost for fuel over time. With old aircraft, there is little cost up front, but then higher cost for fuel over time. An airline like UA has its planes flying for up to 20-30 years. That gap in fuel/maintenance cost ends up making an older plane more costly for UA over its lifetime. An airline like UPS doesn't fly a converted freighter for that many years. UPS doesn't own a single converted freighter it received before 2000. The only plane it owns from pre-2000 are 757 freighters it purchased directly from Boeing. Also, cargo planes don't tend to operate as many flights as commercial aircraft. This means fuel is less of a factor, as fuel is a per-flight cost.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 8:40 pm
  #55  
 
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Originally Posted by DA201
Also, cargo planes don't tend to operate as many flights as commercial aircraft. This means fuel is less of a factor, as fuel is a per-flight cost.
Similarly, maintenance intervals (determined by flight hours, mostly, or cycles) are stretched out longer; therefore, maintenance costs per airplane, per year (all other things being equal) are reduced vis-a-vis passenger airlines.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 9:37 pm
  #56  
 
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Originally Posted by COSPILOT
I'm simply relating what he told me today. Who knows what is real and what is fake. Didn't we have a day or two a few years ago that said UA was on the cusp of buying A380's? I tried to search but didn't find it.

Thankfully my UA pilot friends and I agree that they know nothing more than internal rumors. Much like a college dorm, nobody will know until announced. That said, the AF rumor was one I didn't expect, so who knows.
Rest assured, this is not referring to the military variant. Boeing is specifically looking to re-start production on the 767-300ER passenger model. The military variant is basically a -200ER model. Now production on those may increase as well, but this is definitely referring to the passenger variant. Unfortunately, as you state, rumors do run rampant in pilot groups. The only ones that would know right now, are the fleet planning division of United (and the execs of course), and the folks of he Boeing sales department.

Personally, I do think that this is indeed United looking to buy new 767s. I think that these will be sold to them at rock-bottom prices as a hold-over until the 797 is launched to replace it. At that point, United could sell these then relatively new airplanes to a cargo carrier. This way, they replace their aging current 767s with newer/more reliable 767s, and Boeing can then also keep them from purchasing the A330 Neo from Airbus.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 9:53 pm
  #57  
 
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Why do some folks think new 767s would allow polaris to speed up. I guarantee at minimum a 24 month lead time for restart of the pax line including spool up of boeing suppliers. A decision for new 767s will only delay polaris and give UA another excuse, but its not like UA was hitting retrofit targets anyway.

What boeing should have done years ago was complete the backbone designs in the concept 787-3 and not ask customers if they wanted it but told them we have this ready to go. Fast forward to today and guess what...airlines want a similar aircraft to then 787-3 just now called 797 and coming in the mid 2020s...go figure
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 10:46 pm
  #58  
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Do the supply chain and assembly line need to be re-certified? Did they even keep all the design documents?

What passenger features can Boeing / UA make to the 767 without going through long re-certification?
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 11:24 pm
  #59  
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wow that is brutal. If one uses 18" aisles (like the narrow aisles UA used in the 77W) vs. the typical 19" aisles, it give you 18.75" per person in width. To compare that to:

-777 (at 9x) has 21.3"/seat
-763 (at 7x) has 21.2”/seat
-A320 (at 6x) has 21.2”/seat

-A330/330neo (at 8x) has 20.8"/seat
- A350 (at 9x) has 20.3”/seat
-747 (at 10x) has 20.2”/seat
-737/757 (at 6x) has 20”/seat

-787 (at 9x) has 19.8"/seat
-777x (at 10x) has 19.7/seat
-777 (at 10x, using 18” aisles as UA is, which is why they are so narrow) has 19.4”/seat

You are talking a seat space (seat cushion + arm rest) that is 1.25" narrower than on a 737. It would be .65" narrower than the ghastly seats on the 77W.

Yup, UA would do it.



Originally Posted by ual763
Personally, I do think that this is indeed United looking to buy new 767s. I think that these will be sold to them at rock-bottom prices as a hold-over until the 797 is launched to replace it. At that point, United could sell these then relatively new airplanes to a cargo carrier. This way, they replace their aging current 767s with newer/more reliable 767s, and Boeing can then also keep them from purchasing the A330 Neo from Airbus.
Given that they were an airline that agreed to take a bunch of el cheapo delux 737-700s (but then got cold feet) this does seem like something they would do.

Again, from a passenger standpoint. ^ Nice in Y (assuming they don't do something ghastly) and not bad in J, although the Polaris seat is too narrow and short on this bird.

I just see themselfs really opening themselves up to get clobbered with higher fuel taxes/prices, plus not sure how the markets would react to new - even cheap - A/C given how their PRASM is so bad.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 7:33 am
  #60  
 
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Originally Posted by username
Do the supply chain and assembly line need to be re-certified? Did they even keep all the design documents?

What passenger features can Boeing / UA make to the 767 without going through long re-certification?
No, because the 767 is still very much in production. To say Boeing may be "restarting" 767 pax production is a bit of a misnomer as it never really formally ended; it was only that orders dried up in favor of other models.
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