United Airlines CFO Mike Leskinen said the company is more confident in the 737 MAX 10, speaking at the Barclays 42nd Annual Industrial Select Conference on February 19, 2025.
“I like the MAX 10 and we are gaining confidence that it will be certified in the configuration that United Airlines need,” said Leskinen. “But I have growing confidence that the MAX 10 is going to deliver and it's going to be a great economic aircraft for United. As it is certified, we will shift some of those aircraft to MAX 10s.”
The certification of Boeing’s MAX 10 has faced several delays, exacerbated further by the OEM’s turbulent year in 2024, what with regulatory oversight and a seven-week long machinist strike at its factories in Portland and Seattle.
“I’m not taking risk here,” said Leskinen. “If the MAX 10 takes longer, the MAX 9 works very well in our fleet.”
With the lack of aircraft availability, he said, United is flying less aircraft than it would prefer. In addition, he highlighted “some uncertainty” around widebody deliveries – particularly the 787. Leskinen said ideally the company would be receiving 100 narrowbodies and 24 widebodies annually for a period of time, but would take Airbus and Boeing time to get to that rate.
“It impacts my cost structure,” said Leskinen. “It’s a negative for my cost structure. I’m flying older aircraft, smaller gauge aircraft longer than I otherwise would like to, and probably a little bit less capacity.”
Leskinen noted that United expects capacity in the second and third quarter of this year to be higher than the first.
“But it’s a mixture of I’m sweating the older assets beyond their economic life more than I would prefer,” he continued. “It’s profit maximising. And so, we’re going to do it. And as production rates ramp, we’ll be able to replace some of those older, less profitable aircraft.”
However, with both Airbus and Boeing guiding ramp ups for the year ahead, Leskinen seemed confident in the OEM’s ability to deliver – particularly Boeing’s turnaround, stating that United has a “much better grasp” of its aircraft deliveries now when compared to the last few years.
“Boeing is doing a pretty miraculous job of turning around and becoming more reliable as a supplier,” said Leskinen. “I am really pleased with what [Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg] has done there. Our confidence that our MAX aircraft are going to be delivered on schedule has never been greater at my tenure at United Airlines.”
The profitability of its international routes has proven to be the company’s “crown jewel”, he added.
“What happened during the pandemic is many of our competitors sat down aircraft, retired aircraft and didn’t place orders for new aircraft,” Leskinen said. “There is a supply constraint at the industry level for widebody aircraft and therefore international capacity.”
Leskinen said it will take “many, many years” for Airbus and Boeing to catch up with widebody demand. With United’s loyalty programme, Leskinen said the company will be able to build brand loyalty through its international lanes.
“We will have a permanent structural advantage in those brand loyal customers in the international lanes, even after there are more widebody aircraft available,” he said.
Leskinen said business has been “really robust” for the company and doesn’t “feel any weakness” in its business at present, driven by the “very strong” international leisure business, while domestic leisure is “fine” but as expected.