Having announced the United NEXT program in 2021, United Airlines celebrated the program's third anniversary on June 29th. During these three years, the airline has expanded rapidly by making record-breaking aircraft orders, taking delivery of new aircraft, and retrofitting its existing mainline fleet with its latest cabins to maximize the delivery of the airline's best hard product to as many guests as possible.

New cabins

While United Airlines placed a record-breaking order for 200 Boeing 787 aircraft (100 firm and 100 options) as part of its NEXT program, the airline had been working on it since 2021, which started off with a massive order of 270 narrowbody aircraft (200 Boeing 737 MAX and 70 Airbus A321neo). While these new jets being delivered already feature the airline's newest cabins, United also committed to retrofitting all of its existing mainline fleet with new cabin products.

While United canceled the Boeing 737 MAX 10 from its fleet plan earlier this year due to certification delays, according to a post on X, the airline has taken delivery of 140, 737 MAX aircraft and 12, A321neo aircraft in the past three years.

During the same period, the carrier also retrofitted over 80 of its existing 737s and A320s with new cabins. As per the airline website, United has taken delivery of over 170 new aircraft (a mix of widebody and narrowbody) as of February 2024. When combined with the retrofitted aircraft, this ensures that a significant portion of the airline's fleet features the latest onboard experience.

Simple Flying has reached out to United Airlines to know more about the progress made. Any response received will be updated in this article.

800 new aircraft

With multiple record-breaking aircraft orders made, United Airlines expects to receive over 800 new aircraft by 2032. These aircraft will replace some of the carrier's older aircraft while also helping United continue its expansion. These orders, as part of the NEXT program, will ensure United has more widebody aircraft than any other US airline and ensure a greater number of premium seats available than its competitors.

The availability of more aircraft and a greater number of premium seats will give United the competitive advantage of being flexible with its operations, both within its domestic and international networks. Especially in markets such as Europe, where United already has the largest number of seat offerings on Transatlantic routes when compared to other American or European carriers, the carrier will be able to increase its market share when it comes to premium passengers.

While 100% of the airline's widebody aircraft (including the Boeing 767s) feature the latest products, such as United Polaris business class, the airline has only completed retrofitting 31.7% of its existing narrowbody aircraft. United's original plan was to complete retrofitting the new cabins on all aircraft by 2026, however, there could be potential delays due to ongoing supply-chain challenges affecting the whole industry.

Growing network

With new aircraft coming in, the airline has major plans for network expansion in the future. Some of the latest service launches include United Airlines introducing five routes from its hub at Washington Dullea International Airport (IAD) in a single day.

These services are operated by United Express. Four of them were last served in 2022 and are now returning.

Elsewhere, the airline will operate daily flights from its hub in Chicago to Fort Lauderdale during the winter season and will launch a once-weekly service from San Francisco to Belize this December.