{"id":6312,"date":"2023-12-01T00:25:55","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T00:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mer.tours\/inside-uniteds-1st-airbus-a321neo-step-onboard-ahead-of-the-inaugural-flight\/"},"modified":"2023-12-01T00:25:55","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T00:25:55","slug":"inside-uniteds-1st-airbus-a321neo-step-onboard-ahead-of-the-inaugural-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelaffiliatewebsite.com\/mer\/inside-uniteds-1st-airbus-a321neo-step-onboard-ahead-of-the-inaugural-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside United’s 1st Airbus A321neo \u2014 step onboard ahead of the inaugural flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It’s a new, or neo,<\/em> day for United.<\/p>\n

The airline’s first Airbus A321neo aircraft is set to enter service with an evening flight from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD).<\/p>\n

The plane is the newest model to join United’s fleet, and it’s the first new Airbus that the Chicago-based carrier has taken delivery of since 2002, according to data from Airfleets.net.<\/p>\n

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United announced its initial A321neo purchase as part of a record-breaking order it placed in June 2021. At the time, the airline ordered 70 of the A321neo jets, alongside 200 variants of Boeing’s 737 MAX.<\/p>\n

In October of this year, United announced it was exercising options for an additional 60<\/a> of the A321neo aircraft, bringing the total order up to 110 jets. It also secured options for 40 additional aircraft.<\/p>\n

Separately, in 2019, the airline ordered 50 of the extended-range version<\/a> of the A321XLR, meant to replace the airline’s aging Boeing 757-200 fleet on some transcontinental and shorter transatlantic routes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the “regular” A321neo will function as a larger gauge jet on United’s core domestic network and, potentially in the future, on its short-haul international routes \u2014 spots in Mexico and Central America.<\/p>\n

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