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Introduction

May 19, 2015, c. Leeham Co. United Airlines and mega-lessor AerCap announced last week UAL will lease up to 25 Airbus A319s, with deliveries from 2016-2021. The aircraft are currently leased to China Southern Airlines. These are powered by the International Aero Engines V2500, the same engine that powers UAL's current fleet of A319s and A320s.

UAL said it will use the A319s to replace 70-seat regional jets, freeing these to shift into 50-seat RJ markets. This represents a general up-gauging at the lower end of United's fleet.

There are also more implications to this transaction.

Summary

• Cheap fuel helps, but it's cheap A319s that count more than anything else.
• Bombardier hopes for CSeries order could be hurt.
• E-Jet getting new role, while CRJs and ERJ are out.
• Taking advantage of the market conditions.