United Airlines has signed a lease agreement with BOC Aviation to acquire three Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets and a single Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
The agreement was announced on October 7, 2024, in a statement by BOC Aviation, where it was also confirmed that the aircraft have already joined the United Airlines fleet.
According to BOC Aviation the three Boeing 737 MAX 9s are all powered by CFM LEAP-1B engines and the 787-9 Dreamliner by General Electric GEnx engines.
“We are delighted to be supporting our long-time customer, United, once again, as it continues its fleet renewal programme,” said Steven Townend, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, BOC Aviation. “The financing of these four latest generation Boeing aircraft provides us with an incremental investment opportunity as we continue to grow our business.”
According to ch-aviation, United currently operates 78 737 MAX 9s and 36 787-9 Dreamliners in a fleet of over 850 aircraft.
BOC Aviation owns a fleet of over 600 aircraft and has lease agreements with 93 airlines in 47 countries.
On October 2, 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had concluded a six-month review of United Airlines after several high-profile safety incidents.
When the review was announced in March 2024, the FAA said it wanted to ensure that United was “complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety.”
However, the FAA gave United the all-clear after completing its evaluation and said: “The review did not identify any significant safety issues. The FAA has concluded the enhanced oversight and approval process for United to add aircraft and services.”