United Airlines this week confirmed the largest single aircraft deal in the company’s history – the purchase of 270 planes for approximately $30 billion – according to The Street.
Aircraft manufactured by Boeing and Airbus will be included in the deal. Of the 270, 50 will be Boeing 737 Max 8 jets, some of which are expected to be ready for passengers this summer. United will also purchase 150 Max 10s from Boeing, 70 Airbus A321 Neos.
Along with purchasing a large fleet of planes, United also plans to add 25,000 new jobs to staff the aircraft. Over the next three years, United plans to add a total of 500 new planes to its fleet in an effort to boost its total number of daily departures and available seats across its North American network.
These ambitious plans come after a year of severely decreased air traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Washington Post, TSA saw declining numbers shortly after the pandemic began in March 2020 and screened just 87,534 April 14 of last year.
By this May TSA began seeing a million people per day move through checkpoints again. However, weather issues, labor issues and capacity problems have made the return to air travel rocky for some companies, leading to flight cancellations and delays.
United Airlines shares were marked 0.11 percent higher in pre-market trading Tuesday and Boeing shares jumped as well, said The Street.
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