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United Airlines is facing a storage problem: hundreds of premium, lie-flat seats meant for Boeing’s 737 Max 10 are sitting unused while certification for the jet remains delayed. With regulators moving closer to approving the Max 10, the carrier must now decide how — or whether — to install those high-yield cabins when the planes finally arrive.
Plans announced years ago
In August 2018, then-president and now CEO Scott Kirby outlined United’s vision for the 737 Max 10, promising transcontinental routes fitted with lie-flat premium seating. The type was originally scheduled to enter service in 2020, part of United’s bid to boost revenue with more premium inventory on domestic long-haul routes.
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Certification delays and technical fixes
The Max 10 has been held up by engineering changes, including a redesign of an anti-icing system that affected multiple 737 Max variants. Boeing has also grappled with heightened oversight following earlier safety and production problems.
Regulators approved the smaller Max 7 earlier this month, and Boeing along with several airline customers expect clearance for the Max 10 soon. Southwest Airlines, a major customer for the Max 7, has said it plans to begin flying that model in the first half of 2027.
Seats in storage, options limited
Because the jet’s certification lagged, United postponed outfitting many of its Max 10s. The result: hundreds of premium suites purchased for the Max 10 are currently in storage.
“We got a bunch of lie-flat seats that we don’t know what to do with,” Kirby told CNBC during an interview earlier this month at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. “They don’t fit on other airplanes.”
Temporary pivot: the Coastliner subfleet
To keep pace with rivals adding high-yield seating, United recently refitted a set of Airbus A321neo narrow-bodies. That subfleet carries 20 newly designed Polaris suites plus premium-economy options and has been marketed for transcontinental routes as the Coastliner.
However, the cabin dimensions and certification requirements for the A321neo and the Max 10 differ, so United still faces choices about final interior layouts once its Max 10s arrive.
Deliveries and orders
United expects the first 737 Max 10 deliveries in the summer of 2027. The carrier lists 167 Max 10s on order in its most recent quarterly filing.
