The sun recently set on another old aircraft – this time a United Airlines’ Airbus A320. The plane made its final trip to an aircraft storage facility in Arizona after serving the airline for three decades. United operates a diverse fleet of aircraft, of which the Airbus A320 family of jets form a substantial chunk.
United retires an A320
On September 7, a United Airlines Airbus A320-200 airplane flew from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Pinal Airpark (MZJ) in Marana, Arizona. While the airfield also provides aircraft maintenance services, among other things, for many airplanes, it becomes their final resting place.
Photo: Flightradar24
United’s A320 in question is registered as N419UA. While its overall age is a little over 30 years, it was delivered to United on October 3, 1994, and would have completed thirty years of service for the carrier in another few weeks.
United ordered the plane in 1992, and it took its first flight on July 11, 1994, before being delivered to the carrier. As of May 2024, it has accumulated more than 90,000 flight hours across 36,066 flight cycles, according to data by ch-aviation.
Before its flight to Marana, the aircraft had flown from New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Denver and, prior to that, between Denver and Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR).
The A320 was, indeed, quite old but certainly not the oldest in United’s fleet. That honor goes to a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft (registered N641UA), which is more than 33 years old and recently flew from Rome to Washington.
Pinal Airpark
Pinal Airpark is used for aircraft storage but also for its maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility. It receives plenty of sunshine all through the year and its dry weather conditions are suitable to mitigate corrosion on airplanes stored there.
Quite often, when an old airplane flies to Pinal Airpark, it is eventually scrapped. But during the pandemic, the facility welcomed hundreds of planes from across the world, as airlines looked to store them temporarily.
Diverse fleet
United operates a large and diverse fleet of more than 900 aircraft. With 10 models and 23 subtypes, it is one of the top three airlines with the most diverse fleet , surpassed only by Delta Air Lines and Lufthansa.
The carrier flies all three members of the Airbus A320 family of jets, including the latest-generation A321neo, which it is gradually using to transition from its Boeing 757 planes. It also has a strong fleet of the Boeing 737 family of planes, including the MAX 8 and MAX 9.
Photo: The Global Guy | Shutterstock
However, earlier this year, United asked Boeing to put a pause on the production of its MAX 10 planes on order due to production delays, as it made changes to its future fleet structure. It was also said to be the ‘undisclosed’ customer of 51 Airbus A321neos a few months back.
The carrier currently only relies on Boeing for its widebody fleet of 767s, 777s, and 787s, but that will change soon. United also has 45 Airbus A350s on order that will gradually join its fleet in the years to come.
Source: Simple Flying
