(RTTNews) - United Airlines Holdings Inc. (UAL) is in advanced talks for a large narrow-body aircraft order that would include at least 100 Boeing Co. 737 Max jets, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.
The negotiations come as Boeing works to lift sales of the Max following two fatal crashes that led to a lengthy global grounding that only began to lift at the end of last year.
Boeing's portion of the order could include 150 Max, the report said.
The report indicated that Boeing is offering some customers steep discounts, reduced upfront payments and other inducements that may not be available once global air traffic returns to more normal levels.
A deal would expand on an order for 25 Max single-aisle jets that United announced in March.
United flies the 757s to its domestic hubs and Hawaii, along with some trans-Atlantic routes from the East Coast. United plans to migrate those routes to the long-range Airbus model, ordering 50 A321XLR in December 2019 with deliveries to begin in 2024.
On Tuesday, Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) said it entered into an agreement with Boeing to increase its 2022 firm orders by 34 Boeing 737 MAX 7 aircraft, bringing the total to 234 firm orders for MAX 7 aircraft.
Last week, United Airlines said it signed a commercial agreement with Denver-based aerospace company Boom Supersonic to buy 15 of Boom's 'Overture' aircraft, with an option for an additional 35 aircraft.
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