Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
TWA772LR wrote:Too many subfleets. I think a cleaner scenario would be to replace the 77E/W fleets with the 45 A359s and 30 779s. UA also does considerably well in cargo so the ULH version wouldn't be very desirable. ULH could be handled by the 789 and 779.
Addition: I just watched the video. I'm on the same page with the maker that it'll be nice to see United take some 777X, but UA has been connecting dots from more hubs which negates the need for a larger fleet of the big 779. The market has called for flexibility and more travel options, which means the US3 will have even less of a reliability on VLAs by connecting their 10+ hubs with 787s and A359s at greater overall frequency from hubs to overseas.
UA857 wrote:TWA772LR wrote:Too many subfleets. I think a cleaner scenario would be to replace the 77E/W fleets with the 45 A359s and 30 779s. UA also does considerably well in cargo so the ULH version wouldn't be very desirable. ULH could be handled by the 789 and 779.
Addition: I just watched the video. I'm on the same page with the maker that it'll be nice to see United take some 777X, but UA has been connecting dots from more hubs which negates the need for a larger fleet of the big 779. The market has called for flexibility and more travel options, which means the US3 will have even less of a reliability on VLAs by connecting their 10+ hubs with 787s and A359s at greater overall frequency from hubs to overseas.
Too many subfleets? I don't think a future UA widebody fleet consisting of A359/A35J/77W/779/788/789/78J/NMA would be considered as too much. The 763 fleet will be replaced by NMA and the 77G/77E could be replaced by a mix of 78Js for domestic/Hawaii service and A359 for int'l service. Also the 779 maximum range is 7,670 nmi so it can't really do ULH routes without a major restriction on Payload. I can see the 779 doing EWR-Asia while the A359ULR or A35J can do the ULH routes.
UA857 wrote:Can the standard A359 fly ORD-DEL/BOM?
UA857 wrote:Does UA have enough 77Ws to fly on SFO-NRT/ICN/PEK/PVG/HKG/TPE/SYD/AKL/LHR/FRA/TLV and EWR-NRT/PEK/PVG/HKG/TLV/DEL/BOM?
emre787 wrote:UA857 wrote:Does UA have enough 77Ws to fly on SFO-NRT/ICN/PEK/PVG/HKG/TPE/SYD/AKL/LHR/FRA/TLV and EWR-NRT/PEK/PVG/HKG/TLV/DEL/BOM?
Nope, my calculations say that they need at least 24 planes (without spares) to perform 1 daily flight on all the routes you mentioned. They only have 22 77Ws in their fleet.
DocLightning wrote:US airlines have very little use for ULR aircraft. The sheer size of the US means that there are very few places on the planet that are more than a 14-15 hour flight from our borders. If you look at a map of the regions >8,000 nmi from JFK, SFO, or MIA, you see that it basically describes a roughly triangular region almost entirely in the Indian Ocean.
So unless a US3 carrier suddenly decides that they desperately need to serve CCK nonstop from the US mainland, I just don't see the business case for an ULR plane.
UA857 wrote:Then why did DL order the 777-200LR?