United Airlines is now in the second sudden naval crisis. After facing the surprising grounding of certain Boeing 777 aircraft that kept most of the 777-200s off the grid, the airline took another hit today with the 737 MAX announcement. While the latest edition of the MAX does not affect all of the aircraft’s aircraft, United has temporarily taken a significant number of aircraft out of service. It all comes as the airline navigates a greatly improved demand environment, where the wide-body and MAX aircraft support the hub of the airline in the central continent and further domestic connections.
United’s double navy
A story highlighting the high standard of pilot training and emergency preparedness dominated the aviation scene at the end of February. A United Airlines Boeing 777, shortly after taking off from Denver to Honolulu, had an engine outage.
The aircraft suffered damage after the fan’s inlet and hood were separated from the engine and damaged parts of the fuselage and engines. The plane also had an engine fire. As a result, the pilots chose to return to the airport and arrived safely in Denver.
In the aftermath of the 777 incident, United worked with Boeing, Pratt & Whitney and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to remove Boeing 777s from service.
The problem with the 777s continues. The FAA requires aircraft equipped with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines to undergo additional inspections. If something needs to be fixed, it needs to be taken care of before returning to commercial service.
Then, on April 9, Boeing announced that it had recommended 16 customers to pull 737 MAX jets out of service to address a possible electrical problem. United was such a carrier affected by the 737 MAX grounding problem. About half of the planes were taken out of service pending rectification of the problem.
A hit for the Navy
The good news for United Airlines is that the issue does not affect all of the airline’s Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, but a fair number of United’s 777 fleets remain parked.
An analysis by Simple Flying using RadarBox.com shows that there are only about 10 Boeing 777-200s, including -200ER aircraft in active service. While a significant portion of the fleet was parked due to the crisis, it appears that some of the aircraft were parked abroad, and had to undergo the new Polaris and premium economy cabins. Some of the park jets contain those affected by the Pratt & Whitney engine problem going to the desert for storage.
The greatest distress in the 777 fleet was the local and recreational Boeing 777 aircraft. These aircraft have a business class of eight percent, with room for up to 28 passengers. These aircraft also contain 336 economical seats, of which 102 are extra economical seats for the leg.
These planes are some of the workhorses for United’s flights to Hawaii, especially from Denver and San Francisco. They also serve as large connecting aircraft between United’s hubs. United, for example, used to use these planes to run flights from hubs such as Houston, Chicago and Washington DC to Denver.
However, some flights have improved. For example, on select flights from San Francisco to Honolulu, United has upgraded some flights to Boeing 777-300ER flights, representing an improvement in terms of both capacity and product. However, it appears that United has added 777-200s to the market again, probably because it has more aircraft that have passed inspections or repairs. Note that flight schedules are subject to change.
It is difficult to respond to sudden fleet changes
It takes an expert team of network and fleet planners to manage a crisis. United Airlines has experience managing the Boeing 737 MAX ground, but in this case there are still some variables.
Of his fleet, United did park. Although it seems easy enough to put the parked jets back into use, the reality is exactly the opposite. Removing aircraft from long-term storage is a long process with many steps that need to be done properly. If an aircraft is not properly brought out of long-term storage, it could result in a plane incident that could cause a diversion or emergency landing.
By reintroducing the MAX, the airline has helped release additional narrow bodies to cover for the 777 foundations. The 777 foundations occurred shortly after United MAX reintroduced commercial services, and the MAX was common on routes to and from midpoint continents.
However, this temporary MAX nature will put extra emphasis on the airline’s team. This will weigh the expected length and impact of fixing the latest issue, which may only take a few days or maybe a few weeks, and decide if it’s worth bringing parked jets to the fore.
Now United are running a dual 777 and 737 MAX bottleneck causing some tension in a much better demand environment. As the U.S. continuously sees more than one million passengers a day, the airline certainly hopes that all of these aircraft will be ready in time for the summer, so that the airline can focus on providing as much capacity as possible to cater for recreational travelers to fly again.
What do you make of the dual navy grounding situation? Let us know in the comments!