737 MAX-9 Crisis Pushes United Airlines Towards Airbus A321neo – Mentour Pilot

The United Airlines CEO recently made an unpublicized trip to France, for Airbus talks about an A321neo order, to CANCEL a 737 MAX-10 order.

Some years ago, an airline in the United States placed a large order for the Airbus A320. The airline had been a loyal Boeing customer before this. So as a result, the American aircraft manufacturer decided to develop an updated, modernized 737 generation.

The above may seem like a reference to American Airlines and Boeing’s decision to go ahead with the 737 MAX. But actually, it happened in 1992, involving a United Airlines order for the then-new A320 family. It was a key factor in Boeing’s decision to launch the 737NG.

A long time has passed since. United merged with Continental (a loyal Boeing customer) and has continued buying Boeing single and twin-aisle aircraft. Interestingly, it never bought the legacy A321. The first time that United looked at an A321neo, it did so out…