This post and discussions on LinkedIn on the topic got me thinking (which is
always dangerous). I had multiple items on my plate today but—SQUIRREL!!!—and I
went chasing aircraft data instead of higher priorities.
First, I pulled down details on United’s 767, 777, and 787 fleets and wrote
some tools to condense the data. First, a report by type and configuration,
with number of aircraft in the second column:
767-300ER 37
24 46/22/99 (167)
13 30/24/149 (203)
767-400ER 16 34/24/173 (231)
777-200 19 28/336 (364)
777-200ER 55
51 50/24/202 (276)
4 32/330 (362)
777-300ER 22 60/24/266 (350)
787-8 12 28/21/194 (243)
787-9 71
23 64/35/123 (222) (planned)
48 48/21/188 (257)
787-10 21 44/21/253 (318)
After cogitating upon that for a bit I decided it would be more useful to sort
by total seat count:
767-300ER 24 167 (46/22/99)
767-300ER 13 203 (30/24/149)
787-9 23 222 (64/35/123) (planned)
767-400ER 16 231 (34/24/173)
787-8 12 243 (28/21/194)
787-9 48 257 (48/21/188)
777-200ER 51 276 (50/24/202)
787-10 21 318 (44/21/253)
777-300ER 22 350 (60/24/266)
777-200ER 4 362 (32/330)
777-200 19 364 (28/336)
The last two are high-density “domestic" configurations, for heavy 48-state
routes other than EWR-SFO/LAX, plus Hawaii and beyond to Guam, sometimes
GUM-TYO. The A350 is an unlikely contender for this role—the 787-10 seems like
the most likely replacement even though it would probably have more seats, with
the 787-9 as second choice.
Note that the low-density/high-premium 787-9 configuration first flew two
months ago but none have been delivered so far. They’re supposed to enter
service real soon now, with SFO-LHR being the first route. This configuration
is an anomaly within United’s twin-aisle fleet so like the two-class aircraft
it’s not very interesting with regard to a hypothetical A350 acquisition.
Boeing has tended to list seat counts for typical 3- and 2-class
configurations, plus an exit-limited max, though I could only find the older
aircraft via Wikipedia (with dead links to Boeing references), and some of the
current Boeing data is limited. United’s typical 3-class configurations come in
with lower seat counts than Boeing’s, by roughly 5-10%.
Airbus advertises a range plus a maximum:
A350-900 332-352 440
A350-1000 375-400 480
I’ll guess those ranges are 3- and 2-class configurations, so applying a 10%
discount for a United configuration that puts roughly 299 seats on an A350-900
and 338 on an A350-1000 in United’s configuration, straddling United’s 787-10
configuration by 20 seats below and above. The A350 has much greater range, but
with the coming MTOW increase the 787-10 will be capable of all but a few of
United’s routes and for those very long routes the 787-9 suffices—with multiple
hubs, United can spill the cheap seats to connections via hubs where they can
use the 787-10.
For the very heavy routes, where United flies the 777-300ER, United already has
those aircraft and they are fairly young. By the time they need to be replaced,
a 777X2 or A350neo would likely be a better candidate.
The only value that I can see in the A350 (for United) is supplier diversity,
and between the 737 MAX versus A321neo, plus the engine issues on the latter
(United has the PW1100G but the LEAP-1A will come soon with leased aircraft),
supplier diversity is worth more than a little thought.
-- Karl
> On Feb 15, 2026, at 5:41 AM, Addison Schonland via Mifnet
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> There’s more to it: https://airinsight.com/united-a350-order-rolls-royce/
> <https://airinsight.com/united-a350-order-rolls-royce/>
>
> Regards,
> Addison Schonland
> www.airinsight.aero <http://www.airinsight.aero/>
> (858) 536-9900
> (858) 682-4931 – WhatsApp
>
> Book a time slot:
> https://outlook.office.com/book/[email protected]/
> <https://outlook.office.com/book/[email protected]/>
>
> From: Jack Keady via Mifnet <[email protected]
> <mailto:[email protected]>>
> Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2026 11:01 AM
> To: David Wardell via Mifnet <[email protected]
> <mailto:[email protected]>>
> Cc: Jack Keady <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
> Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 75432] UA vs Rolls
>
> Latest says 350 order cx due Trent issues. Check it out
>
> Keady
> Sent from the all new AOL app for Android
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aol.mobile.aolapp>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revised: 20250507
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