United orders more 737-700s and adjusts 787 deliveries

United Airlines has ordered an additional 25 Boeing 737-700s and moved forward nine 787 deliveries, allowing it to speed the retirement of small regional jets and its 747-400 fleet.

Deliveries of the 737s, which join the 40 that the Chicago-based carrier ordered in January, will begin at the end of 2017. United will use them as part of its programme to reduce its 50-seat regional jet fleet to fewer than 100 aircraft by 2019.

United will also add nearly 100 Embraer 175s with 76 seats to its feeder fleet as part of the 50-seat jet reductions.

The 787 changes move deliveries forward to late 2017 from 2020 and convert them from -10s to five -9s and four 777-300ERs.

Additionally, the changes will allow United to remove its remaining 22 747-400s by the end of 2018.

"Retiring the 747 fleet and replacing those aircraft with more customer-pleasing, current-generation aircraft creates a more reliable and efficient fleet that provides a better overall experience for our customers traveling on long-haul flights," says Gerry Laderman, United's acting chief financial officer.

With the changes, the airline has orders for 65 737-700s, 14 777-300ERs, seven 787-9s and 14 787-10s, based on Flightglobal's Fleets Analyzer database.