United Airlines May Acquire Previously Rejected Boeing 777-9 Aircraft

United Airlines, one of the major US air carriers, is considering the purchase of about 20 Boeing 777-9 aircraft manufactured by Boeing Corporation that have long remained in storage. According to AviaNews, citing industry sources, these liners were originally intended for Emirates, but the Dubai giant refused to accept them. This was reported by Ixbt.com reports .

We are talking about the first batch produced between 2019 and 2021, before the Boeing 777X program received full certification. Due to the multi-year delay in the certification process, these aircraft were not put into operation and were stored in special areas for several years. This exact factor raised questions regarding their technical condition and economic efficiency.

Why did Emirates abandon these liners?

Emirates President Tim Clark had openly explained the reasons for not accepting these aircraft. According to him, bringing the initially manufactured copies to the final serial configuration requires a very large amount of modernization work. This means not only time, but also huge financial costs.

In addition, Clark noted that long-term storage conditions negatively affected the overall operational resource of the aircraft. The head of Emirates was even remembered for his sarcastic remarks. He once expressed his dissatisfaction with the project's delay, stating that these aircraft could now only be useful to Heinz "for making tin cans for canned beans".

Strategic significance for Boeing and United Airlines

If negotiations are successful, United Airlines could become the first operator of the Boeing 777-9 model in the US. This will be an important step for the airline to renew its fleet and increase passenger capacity. For Boeing, this deal is an opportunity to solve the issue of "problematic" aircraft that remain in storage and require high costs.

So far, neither Boeing nor United Airlines representatives have officially commented on this information. According to industry experts, if the deal goes through, Boeing will likely have to provide these liners with significant discounts or shoulder some of the modernization costs.

The Boeing 777 series is not foreign to the Uzbekistan aviation market either. Our national air carrier has aircraft of this type in its fleet, showing high efficiency on long-haul flights. Meanwhile, the fate of the Boeing 777X family remains in the spotlight for the global aviation industry, including major transit carriers in our region.