United puts 757s and 767s in long-term storage

United Airlines has announced that it will be putting part of its Boeing 757 and 767 fleets in long-term storage.

United has painted three of its 757s in special liveries. Photo by Brandon Ravelo | AeroNewsX

The 72 Boeing 757s are of two varieties in United’s fleet, where it has 51 757-200s and 21 757-300s. 37 757s are configured in the international configuration and 28 are configured in the premium transcontinental service featuring 28 lie-flat seats in business class to provide extra comfort during long haul flights. These are 12 extra lie flats than the international configuration.

11 of these premium 757-200 aircraft have now been placed in long term storage, as well as 16 Boeing 767-400ER aircraft. As most airlines hastily retire old aircraft during the COVID-19 pandemic, United has made no such move as yet. The above-mentioned aircraft are simply in storage for the foreseeable future. The 27 aircraft may come back into service as demand picks up, but the likeliness of such an outcome looks slim as the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on airlines worldwide.

The airline does not want to use the word ‘retired’ for any of its aircraft as it feels it will be able to take a final decision only when it sees how demand is picking up. United has currently modeled its business around a worst-case scenario of zero passenger load till the end of the year. Following this model, its capacity will be cut down by 90%.

A United 767-400ER. Photo by Matt Lino | AeroNewsX

Speaking about this model, United’s new CEO Scott Kirby said “We aren’t projecting that and certainly hope it’s better than that, but we are planning for the possibility,”

450 of United's 790 aircraft are currently in storage, but only these 27 aircraft are in long-term storage.