Fleet Analysis: United Airlines 787-10 operations

United Airlines Boeing 787-10

Where United Airlines is flying its Boeing 787-10s is changing rapidly. It has 13 in service, with half of flights domestic. According to the airlines’ site, the 787-10 is returning to trans-con routes and many trans-Atlantic flights in 2022.

Before the Coronavirus crisis, the carrier used a mix of Boeing 757, 777 and 787-10 aircraft for its premium transcontinental routes between Newark, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The 787-10 jets operated by UA have 318 seats, spread across 44 in Polaris (6’6 inch, 198 cm) sleeping space), 21 in Premium Plus (38 inch, 97 cm), 54 in Economy Plus (34 inch, 86 cm), and 199 in regular economy 31 inch, 79 cm), plus WiFi and seatback on-demand and personal device entertainment in all classes. See 787-10 seating: https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/inflight/aircraft/787-10.html

United Airlines now has 13 787-10s, with all but one active, and 8 on order, according to Boeing and ch-aviation.com. The airline received its first 787-10 (N14001) on November 5th, 2018, with the variant’s first revenue service on January 2nd between Newark and Los Angeles. The airline also operates 12 787-8s and 38 787-9s all being retrofitted with Polaris seats.

According to the latest OAG data, United’s 787-10s have 2,038 departures from the US between February and June 2022. That makes the variant United’s fifth most-used widebody, as shown below:

1. 777-200/-200ER: 6,632 departures; average sector 3,109 miles (5,003km)
2. 767-300ER: 5,123; 3,241 miles (5,216km)
3. 787-9: 4,313; 5,074 miles (8,168km)
4. 777-300ER: 3,150; 3,711 miles (5,972km)
5. 787-10: 2,038; 3,396 miles (5,465km)
6. 767-400ER: 1,937; 3,208 miles (5,163km)
7. 787-8: 1,524; 4,064 miles (6,540km)

Note that the 787-10 has a third more departures than the smaller 787-8, despite having the same number of active aircraft. The difference is perhaps partly from the 787-8’s greater deployment on long-haul routes.

The 787-10 is the largest-capacity 787 variant with a higher empty weight than the 787-8 and 787-9. But this results in a relative lack of range versus its smaller siblings and other, alternative aircraft. The largest variant of models tend to perform worse by orders, and that’s the case with the 787-10, as of Nov. 2021:

Between February and June, virtually half of United’s 787-10s departures will be on domestic services, highlighting its flexibility. Don’t get carried away. It’s only used on three domestic routes: Newark to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Washington Dulles to Los Angeles.

It’ll be deployed on ten international routes, as shown below, with Newark to Tel Aviv having the most departures. Six of the 10 routes are operating in February, to be joined by Newark to Amsterdam and Lisbon in March. May is a key month, with Los Angeles-Haneda and Newark-Athens beginning; it’s this that accounts for the drop in domestic use in the figure above.

United 787-10 departures February-June 2022:

• Newark-Tel Aviv: 231
• Newark-Frankfurt: 150
• Dulles-Brussels: 122
• Dulles-Frankfurt: 122
• Newark-Brussels: 109
• Newark-Amsterdam: 97
• Newark-Paris CDG: 81
• Newark-Lisbon: 69
• Los Angeles-Tokyo Haneda: 36
• Newark-Athens: 28

There will be changes in June 2022. While Los Angeles-Haneda and Newark to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and CDG are all down for a once-daily 787-10 service, the other six will barely see it. It’ll be replaced by the 777-200ER, 767-300ER, or 767-400ER, with no indication yet where the large 787 will be deployed. Things will become clearer soon.

United ordered Airbus A321LXR long-range, and Boeing 737-10 Max jets in 2021. The new jets are best suited for domestic flights but could be used on some trans-Atlantic routes when they are delivered in 2023 and 2024. The airline has taken delivery of about 30 Boeing 787s and 777s twin-aisle jet over the past two years, typically used for international flights. Research for the article from United, OAG, chaviation and simpleflying.com