United Airlines chief executive officer Scott Kirby announced earlier this month at a Barclays industrial event that it plans to retire part of its fleet early in 2025, according to a report by ch-aviation . This decision comes as the Chicago-based airline anticipates lower-than-expected profitability results for the first quarter of the year. Phasing out 21 planes According to the report, the Chicago-based airline plans to retire its most costly aircraft due to concerns about lower-than-expected profitability in the first quarter of 2025.
The airline has not specified which aircraft type will be retired. Simple Flying has reached out to United Airlines for comment. Commenting on the decision during the Barclays industrial event in March 2025, the carrier's CEO, Scott Kirby, said: "Well, what we are doing is retiring 21 aircraft early.
That is something that will be cash-positive this year." Although the airline anticipates lower-than-expected profitability for the first quarter, its full-year 2024 financial results remained positive. In 2024, the carrier's net income was $3.
1 billion, with an adjusted net income of $3.5 billion. Meanwhile, full-year operating revenues were $57 billion, an increase of 6.
2% year-on-year (YoY). United Airlines pointed out that in 2024, it operated its largest-ever flight schedule and carried the most customers in its history, with the latter number being 173.6 million, a 5.
3% increase YoY. “Set the company record for most customers carried in.
