United Airlines flies Boeing 737 MAX to South America for the first time

United MAX aircraft

The first United 737 MAX flight to South America departed from Newark Liberty Airport last Monday at 18:04 local time and landed in Bogota at El Dorado International Airport at 23:08 local time. The aircraft used for the flight was a MAX 8, registered N27271. According to flight data from Flightradar24.com, the MAX 8 entered service in late September after delivery from Boeing. United currently has 68 MAX aircraft in service, split between the MAX 8 and MAX 9.

United flies to Bogota from both Newark and Houston, for a total of 180 flights per month. On both routes, United uses its Boeing 737-700 and 737 MAX 8. According to the Cirium schedule, United is using its MAX fleet on 6,632 flights this November. The airline’s most frequented routes on its MAX aircraft are:

• Newark – Las Vegas: 114 flights (MAX. 8)
• Newark – Fort Myers: 95 flights (MAX. 8)
• Newark – Phoenix: 92 flights (MAX. 8)
• Newark – Orlando: 85 flights (MAX. 8)
• Denver – Boston: 84 flights (MAX. 9)
• Las Vegas – Chicago: 80 flights (MAX. 9)

United aircraft interiors

United MAX 8s are configured in three cabins with a total of 166 seats: 16 in United First, 54 in Economy Plus and 96 in Standard Economy. In 2021, United Airlines announced a new signature interior for its narrow-body aircraft. The new interior includes larger overhead bins that can fit one carry-on bag per passenger, eliminating the need to check bags when flights are full.

Photo: United Airlines

Perhaps one of the best features of the new interior has to do with the onboard entertainment system. The new interior is equipped with IFE on every seat and also has Bluetooth connectivity. A small percentage of United’s fleet now has an IFE on each seatback. When the new interior was announced, the airline said that in the coming years, all of its aircraft will be fitted with the latest interior, and that new aircraft will come with the upgrades.

As part of the upgrade, United is adding Wi-Fi to all of its planes and offering wider seats with better recline. Currently, a select few aircraft in United’s fleet have new signature interiors, but the number is growing.

Boeing 737 MAX 10

Last weekend, the first non-prototype Boeing 737 MAX 10 took flight in Washington state. The MAX 10 has been parked at the Renton Municipal Airport since it rolled off the assembly line earlier this year. Registered as N27753, the MAX 10 is the third in history and the first of more than 700 MAX 10s ordered by 15 different airlines, including United.

Although the plane made its first test flight over the weekend, Boeing is aiming to get its MAX 7 and 10 planes certified by the end of 2022 to avoid cabin changes mandated by Congress. But with each passing day, the chances of the two aircraft being approved are decreasing.