UAL Corp.'s United Airlines confirmed Tuesday that it placed initial firm orders for 50 wide-body planes, evenly split between Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner and rival Airbus's new A350 model, and arranged future purchase rights for 50 more of each. United, the third-largest U.S. airline by traffic, hadn't ordered new aircraft for 11 years. The carrier began shopping last summer, figuring it could drive a better bargain by pitting the manufacturers against each other at the bottom of the business cycle. The airline hired aviation-consulting firm Seabury Group LLC to help it negotiate.
At catalog prices, the order is valued at more than $10 billion, but major customers such as United usually win substantial discounts. These can exceed 40% off list prices, industry officials say, although actual pricing varies widely for each deal.
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