Fleet selection aircraft- United airlines Essay

Fleet selection aircraft- united airlinesFleet selection criteria by airlines depend on a large number of factors. A survey of the aircraft held by United Airlines will reveal that these fulfill the basic criteria of efficiency, economy, environmental performance to include higher humidity for comfort and convenience of passengers and e enabled systems.  Other criteria include fuel efficiency, speed and safety.Within these broad criteria the airlines match aircraft with the length of routes, passenger flow and the economics of air travel to provide best value for money in relation to comfort to passengers. A survey of United Airlines will amplify this facet.United Airlines connects 790 destinations by passenger and cargo in 138 countries worldwide.

The United Airlines fleet comprises of aircraft as given in Table 1 below[1].Type of AircraftNumber of seatsNumber of AircraftAverage AgeAirbus 319-100120556Airbus 320-200147977Boeing 737-3001236417Boeing 737 – 5001083014Boeing 757 – 2001729714Boeing 747- 4003473010Boeing 767 – 3002133510Boeing 777-200267527Total-46011            The United Airlines uses its fleet of aircraft specifically thus:-(a)  Airbus 319 -100 – A seating capacity of 120 implies this aircraft is useful for domestic short haul.(b)  Airbus 320 – 200 – Domestic short haul aircraft as well as for transcontinental flight due to advantage of speed and range.(c)  Boeing 737 – 300 – The oldest aircraft in the United Airlines fleet, this is exclusively used for domestic short haul.(d)  Boeing 737 – 500 – The capacity is low at 108 which imply that these will be used for domestic short haul.

(e)  Boeing 757 – 200 – Some aircraft are used for transcontinental, Hawaii and Latin American flights as it has a capacity of 172 hence can accommodate large number of passengers on slightly longer routes.(f)  Boeing 747 – 400 –    This is a wide bodied aircraft with 347 seats thus is being utilized on routes with heavy traffic as Trans Atlantic and between hubs.(g)  Boeing 767 – 300 – Another wide bodied aircraft with larger capacity which is being used for transatlantic, transcontinental and inter hub flights.(h)  Boeing 777 – 200 – This is also a wide bodied aircraft with larger seat capacity and hence is used for transpacific, transatlantic, inter hub and other long haul and heavy traffic sectors due to the large capacity.

[1] United Airlines Fact Sheet. www.united.com ( 09 May 2006).