United adds to its order for Boeing 737 Max planes

United Airlines said Monday that it was adding 25 planes to its order for Boeing’s 737 Max jet, bringing its total to 180 in the coming years, and that it had sped up the delivery timeline as it seeks to position itself for the expected recovery in travel.

The expanded order is the latest show of confidence in the plane, which has just begun to fly again after two crashes led to a worldwide grounding for two years. It is good news for Boeing, which is working to move past the Max crisis and, more recently, engine troubles aboard some of its 777 planes.

“These new aircraft are going to allow us to be more competitive,” said Andrew Nocella, United’s chief commercial officer. “It’s the right aircraft at the right time.”

United plans to use the jet throughout North America and in Hawaii, replacing smaller planes as demand returns, Nocella said. It is also more fuel efficient than its predecessors, an important benefit for the airline as it seeks to reduce its carbon footprint.

“This is going to allow us to get back on that track as we come out of the pandemic,” Nocella said.

The industry is preparing for a travel rebound once coronavirus vaccinations are widespread and the pandemic is tamed. The beleaguered 737 Max has been updated and readied to fly again after crashes in Indonesia in October 2018 and Ethiopia in March 2019 killed a total of 346 people.

In November, the Federal Aviation Administration became the first global regulator to lift a ban on the jet. Boeing and the airlines that use the Max were required to install software updates, modify wiring and make other changes to the planes before they could fly again. Regulators in other countries followed, and the Max has been used to carry out thousands of flights.

United, which has 30 Max planes in its fleet, started using the plane again a few weeks ago. The airline expects to receive 24 this year, followed by 40 next year and 54 in 2023.

The manufacturer has delivered more than 400 Max jets to customers since the plane first started flying paying passengers in 2017, with nearly 4,000 orders outstanding.

While Monday’s order shows United is preparing for travel to rebound, a meaningful recovery is still a ways off. Nocella said United hoped to reach an “inflection point” late in the year, after which the recovery would accelerate rapidly. For now, United and its peers continue to lose money by the day even as they cater to what few travelers remain.