Near the middle of December 2022, United Airlines secured a firm order for 100 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, boosting its current order backlog to roughly 700 aircraft. Alongside the firm order for 100, the carrier also placed options for 100 more 787s. With variants left unspecified in the announcement -8, -9, and -10 are all possibilities. With this order ending months of rumors and speculation, what exactly is going on with the airline's longstanding Airbus A350 order? And why hasn't it been officially canceled yet?

A (very) longstanding order

As we noted in a previous article, ​​​​United Airlines had initially ordered 25 Airbus A350-900s in 2010. This deal has been adjusted several times over the years. In 2013 this order was changed to 35 A350-1000s but in 2017 the airline changed it to 45 A350-900s. We are now one full decade past the original announcement - and yet the order data from both Airbus and ch-aviation.com still show the widebody deal on the books.

Most would have expected United's record-setting order in December 2022 to be the nail in the coffin for its longstanding A350 deal. Indeed, the speculation has been wide-ranging as to the reason for United Airlines' inaction on killing this order. Some have suggested that the deposits for the A350s will be moved to A321XLRs, while others think that the airline is waiting for a re-engined A350. Others believe that Airbus accepted the cancelation, but Rolls-Royce did not.

Below the headlines

While the carrier's new commitments with Boeing made the headlines, its revised position on its A350 order garnered a little less attention. Nonetheless, the carrier did actually provide some insight on this Airbus widebody deal in recent months.

According to Aviation Week, a conference call saw United CFO Gerry Laderman disclose that his airline had agreed with Airbus modify the delivery schedule of the A350s. In fact, Laderman stated the A350 deliveries are not scheduled to start until 2030, adding that the A350s were a “really great option” to replace its aging Boeing 777s.

Photo: Airbus

Ultimately, it would seem that United has decided to metaphorically 'kick the can down the road' a little further, without providing any more certainty as to the fate of its Airbus commitment. This certainly has to be one of the longest-standing aircraft orders for an in-production commercial aircraft, most certainly beating out Iran Air's standing aircraft order. The Iranian flag carrier's order with Airbus has been made unfulfillable due to sanctions but still remains on the planemakers' order books.

Sources: Aviation Week