Originally Posted by FriendlyPilot

So the announcement that new hire classes won't start again until July 23rd further fuels the Airbus order rumor theory. This is why.

Kirby is not getting his 350 Max 10 planes, so he's obvoiusly looking elsewhere for a replacement. Obviously the only other comparable plane is the A-321 NEO or XLR.

Airbus said they are trying to get airlines with A-321 orders to defer those orders so they can use them for an airline that needs a large order of A-321s. There is no reason that Airbus would care UNLESS that airline is also ordering a bunch of WB planes, which Airbus does not have a full order book on. Airbus could start delivering new A-350s as soon as 2026 because A-350 production is only full for the next 18 or so months. Spirit and JetBlue have deferred about 150 A-320s and those delivery slots start in September of this year.

What makes this rumor even more interesting is that it was leaked that United would announce the Airbus order at the Farnborough airshow and that the pause in hiring was because they want to make sure that new hires are being trained into the proper plane (Airbus vs 737). Currently almost all the new hires have been hired into the 737.

The date was just released for when new hire classes would start. July 23rd.

Why is this "interesting"? The Farnborough Airshow is July 22nd to July 26th.