United Airlines is considering fitting out its new stock of aircraft with ten seats abreast across regular economy class. Already Aviation Week reports that United has been looking at swapping out its current craft orders with Boeing for the 777-300ERs.

United Airline

United Airline Image by Curimedia | P H O T O G R A P H Y / CC BY 2.0

The magazine emphasises that United is looking at the 10 seats as as a real option, configurated in a 3-4-3 formation.

Travel Pulse reports that if this were to become reality, it would translate into 364 seats per plane. This is almost 100 more passengers than United carries on most of its three-class 777s, say experts.

Aviation Week further reports that the new 10-seat formation is ‘quickly becoming the standard for new deliveries’ of 777s.

So what does all this mean – other than less space and a more crowded journey? For the airline, it adds up to a significant financial return per flight. An extra 100 seats, for instance, could mean one plane ‘earning’ up to $15 million per year on the assumption that it flies eight times per week over a 48-week year.

However, a United Airlines spokesman in an email to Aviation Week, refused to confirm this move to the 10-seat configuration, saying that the company normally evaluates a number of options for its fleet, but had no further announcement to make on this issue.

United told Bloombert News a few weeks ago that while it was not currently considering buying wide-body aircraft, it would hold the ability to negotiate the substitution of one type of aircraft for another. This was part of its flexible fleet plan, the spokesman said, adding that it is “considering the Boeing 777-300ER in this context.”