And right on cue, United has announced a way deep cut of aircraft: It will retire its 64 737-700 and 6 747-400 beyond the retirement of its 30 737-500 that it had previously announced. (Yes, all United 737s go; remaining narrowbodies are 97 Airbus A 320 and 55 A319s and 97 Boeing 757s). So a total of 100 of the 460 planes United operated as of the beginning of the year will be looking for new homes. Eighty of these will be desert bound by the end of the year. Regional flying, for which United contracts out, is not affected.
Also, United’s pointless Ted airline-within-an-airline thingy is dead.
CLT impact: Gets here tomorrow. Literally. United flies from CLT to Chicago O’Hare, Denver, and Washington-Dulles. They have 12 flights scheduled today, six on United proper — including five on 737s — with the rest being on regional jets.
CLT is losing two flights a day just from the previously announced 737-500 retirement. An ORD flight on a 737-500 ends today while one of the two flights to Denver, also on a 737, is discontinued in mid-July.
Hard to imagine the remaining Denver flight remaining when the 737-300s start rapidly leaving the fleet in the fall. Also, I’d expect smaller aircraft on many of the nine or so flights that will remain to ORD and IAD. That is unless United wacks IAD big.
