Boeing in $14.7-bn deal with United Airlines

The world's largest aircraft manufacturer Boeing Inc said yesterday that the company has received a historic order from the world's largest airlines United Airlines Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings Inc for the supply of 150 Boeing 737 airplanes at the Farnborough air show in UK.

The deal consists of 100 latest 737 Max 9 aircraft and 50 Next-Generation 737-900ERs with a total price tag of approximately $14.7 billion.  

United's president and CEO Jeff Smisek said: ''This order is a major step in building the world's leading airline, and we look forward to offering our customers the modern features and reliability of new Boeing airplanes, while also making our fleet more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly." 

"New aircraft deliveries support our flexible fleet plan, permitting us to tailor future capacity up or down, based on changes in demand or other market conditions, Smisek added.

United is the first North American customer for Boeing's state-of-the-art 737 Max9 airplane. The orders and commitments for the new 737 Max so far have crossed 1,200 from 18 customers worldwide.

Including all variants, the orders for Boeing's first commercial airplane 737 has crossed the historic 10,000 mark.