United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) will launch recruitment for B787 pilots to be based out of New York Newark in September 2018, ahead of the opening of a base next year.

"We are evaluating using the 787 flying out of Newark in the future and are in the early stages of planning for that by ensuring we have proper pilot staffing allocated at the right time," an internal company memorandum seen by FlightGlobal said.

The carrier is expected to finalise the details of the plan in the coming weeks.

United earlier said it might place the incoming B787-10s in Newark and use them on transatlantic routes. The carrier has fourteen aircraft of the type on order from Boeing, with the first three expected to start revenue service in early 2019.

The carrier's existing B787 fleet already includes twelve B787-8s and twenty-five B787-9s.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, United is by far the largest airline at Newark with 3,035 weekly departures and a 64.6% market share by capacity. In terms of its widebody equipment, it currently bases B777-200s, B767-300(ER)s, and B767-400(ER)s out of the New Jersey gateway.