Standards Meeting Notes
 

Kirby, Ankit, Quayle etc all spoke at the standards meeting. These were some of the high points.

Over 100 new planes will be delivered in 2026
A321XLR will arrive next summer and be doing International by Q4 2026. Will add a bunch of new EUR destinations with it.
400+ new CA vacancies just from October - December
Hiring will be at least 2,400 for 2026. Will hire more if they can. Limiting factor is hotel rooms available in Denver. This is why hiring is ramping up now instead of November.
Will break 20,000 pilots in mid 2026.
Retirements increase from 450 a year to over 600 a year until 2029 when it will start declining to about 400 a year.
787 deliveries will be deployed to LAX/SFO/EWR for growth except SFO 777 routes will be replaced by 787 as some 777s redeployed to EWR/IAD.
787 deliveries to go to 2 a month starting in January.
777 will grow in IAD and EWR.
756 will grow in IAD and EWR as planes are moved from west coast.
767-300 to do another round of heavy checks and remain on property until early 2030s.
Large 737 CA vacancies will be in LAX/SFO/EWR starting in November.
ORD will go to 600 departures a day. DEN/IAH will likely be 550-580 departures a day. They will become super hubs. AA might have to de-hub ORD.
MAX-10s are delayed until 2027 so we will keep converting MAX-10 to 9s to keep flow of planes coming. No longer MAX-10 launch customer because of delays.
IAD to double International capacity as we add 14 more International gates there.
Not looking to buy any other airlines or used planes but always looking for slots/gates at every airport. Will focus on United Next and new deliveries.
A-350 is still an option. the Rolls Royce engines are a smoking deal now and RR wants to buy UA out of the contract. Will decide by Q4 2025 on 777 replacement.
They are working on more JFK slots in addition to ones we will get from Jetblue. Would like 20 daily slots total there if we can get them.

You forgot “We’re the young lions. Delta is the old grizzly lion out there, so we don’t directly compete often. Mainly it’s because AA and SWA are limping gazelles and it’s easier to eat them up”

Ok, taking a mental note for next summer to revisit this thread and see how much of this turned out to be right.

They going to keep shrinking MCO?

To think any competitor is a “limping gazelle” when this industry has and will shove its size 16 boot up your rear at a moments notice is a bold statement. If anyone is buying this sunshine and rainbows forecast… get that furlough fund ready, live below your means, and make hay while the sun is shining.

These are not my predictions. This is the plan from senior management. Me being "right" isn't the question. The people pulling all the levers are saying this. So far they've been pretty accurate, including being exactly correct with 2025 aircraft deliveries and retirements.

Thanks Friendly for your reporting.

I think we all know this is the “American Football Huddle”…. Who knows if the play is executed as planned…..but it sounds like a good play to me.

Oh I know. I didn't say it was you saying jt, it was what you passed along. The whole United Next thing has been a moving target and there have been a lot of numbers over the last several years. 25k pilots, 28k pilots, etc.

My point was that this seems to be a more granular and specific strategy for the next year and it will be interesting to see if they can execute as advertised. Obviously I'd love it if they did and so would every other pilot on property.

I'm sure JBU would be willing to deal on those JFK gates for the right amount of money considering their current financial woes.

What are the specific rules for bidding captain under the new contract? If there are unfilled vacancies then people with less that 12 month/500 hours can be awarded? Is that right?