United Airlines has ordered 25 more Boeing 737 Max planes and accelerated the timeline for delivering previously ordered jets as it prepares for travelers to begin flying again.
It’s a vote of confidence in air travel’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the 737 Max, which was cleared to resume flying late last year after regulators grounded the aircraft worldwide in the wake of a pair of deadly crashes in March 2019.
“With a number of our aircraft nearing the end of their lifecycle and the growth opportunities that we know will exist in the COVID-19 recovery period, this agreement will help us to grow as demand returns and renew our fleet with more environmentally friendly, customer-pleasing aircraft,” United Chief Operating Officer Andrew Nocella said in a memo provided by the company Monday.
Chicago-based United pushed back the delivery of many new aircraft early in the pandemic as travel came to a near halt. Between the new orders and accelerated orders, it now expects to receive 21 737 Max jets this year, 40 in 2022 and 54 in 2023.
On Feb. 11, United flew customers on the 737 Max for the first time since the planes were grounded.
The Federal Aviation Administration approved the plane’s return to service in November after Boeing made changes to an automated flight-control system linked to the 2019 crashes that killed 346 people. Regulators in Europe followed suit earlier this year.
