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Home » United Airlines » United Will Not Retire 757-200s As Planned
757United Airlines

United Will Not Retire 757-200s As Planned

Matthew Klint Posted onMay 1, 2017May 1, 2017 7 Comments

United 757-200 at LAX

United Airlines will not retire 15 of its 757-200s as planned, as it examines viable replacements for the workhorse jet.

The plan was to retire the remaining pre-merger United fleet of 757-200s later this year, all of which are configured with 28 lie-flat beds and used almost exclusively on premium (p.s.) transcon routes. These aircraft are not certified to fly overseas and were due for both pricey heavy maintenance checks and mandatory fire suppression upgrades to the fuel tanks in the months to come. By retiring these aircraft, United could have avoided these pricey measures to extend the life of the aircraft.

But a very reliable FA on Flyertalk reports that these aircraft will not be retired and safety upgrades will proceed. Why? United has no viable replacements. With United set to begin exclusively lie-flat service in business class between San Francisco and Boston, more lie-flat aircraft are needed. These aircraft may be showing their age a bit, but still feature United’s current lie-flat business class and slim-line economy class seats.

United has examined the Airbus A321neo to take over routes formerly served by its 757-200s. It has also expressed interest in launching Boeing’s new “middle-of-the-market” (MoM) “797” aircraft. The problem is that these aircraft are many years away and United needs aircraft now.

Consumers should be happy over this news. The 757-200s that will remain in service have a higher business class – economy ratio than other aircraft. Furthermore, it hints of more domestic routes with lie-flat beds.

With no viable alternative at this time, United is wise (and forced) to extend the life of its 757-200 fleet.

top image courtesy of ERIC SALARD / Flickr

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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7 Comments

  1. rjb Reply
    May 1, 2017 at 9:59 am

    Meh. I stopped flying Untied in 2012 after a series of customer service disasters. Never went back. I’ll never be in one of these old birds.

  2. AL Reply
    May 1, 2017 at 12:43 pm

    just flew the oldest one in the fleet last week to EWR. Came into service in 1989….yikes! Have had 3 mechanicals in the last 12 months on one of them. Time to retire these things!

    • R charest Reply
      June 10, 2019 at 12:20 pm

      Damn right Al…..flying antiques. Horrible .

  3. Captain Kirk Reply
    May 1, 2017 at 4:41 pm

    I flew a UA 757-300 back in 2011 SFO-OGG and what a tired, beat up, piece of junk. The plane got us there, but the cabin was in desperate need of upgrade/renovation. I had used miles for FC for my wife and I and I was disappointed with the creaky seats, the awful tube TVs in the ceiling, and the overall lousy interior. If I had paid cash, I would have been pissed. All the airlines love to fly old, beat up planes to the islands from the West Coast. I guess they figure so many award tickets are used on thsoe flights and they fly full so often that you can stick people in their lousy planes and stick it to them.

  4. Andrew B Reply
    May 3, 2017 at 12:26 pm

    Would be nice if they’d put some on transcons out of IAD (maybe to compete with Delta’s DCA-LAX fully-flat 757 service).

    • 02nz Reply
      November 21, 2017 at 12:15 am

      There is one round trip a day on the IAD-LAX route using a 757-200 with flat beds. I just got off of this flight. The interiors are awfully beat-up though.

  5. GregoryV Reply
    November 13, 2018 at 1:13 pm

    Flew the 757-200 built in 19954 from OGG to DEN in 1st class. The ticket was a bit pricey at first, but the lie flat seats paid for themselves. How, when the plane landed in Denver, they flight attendants didn’t have to call for stretcher. As for the interior – I didn’t notice. I slept for 5:45 minutes of the 6 and 1/2 flight.

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