United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) has announced it has converted its order with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) for thirty-five A350-1000s to A350-900s.
In an SEC filing, the carrier said that in addition to the model change, it had added ten more aircraft to the order bringing the total number of A350-900s to be delivered to forty-five.
According to United, the smaller -900 is seen as a better fit and size for its network over the -1000. They are also seen as a "good replacement" aircraft for the B777-200(ER) fleet which is likely to remain in United service through 2022. As such, the first A350s to be delivered to the carrier have now been further delayed until late 2022 and will run through to 2027.
