United Airlines buys more 737 Max airliners from Boeing

March 1 (UPI) -- United Airlines, the second U.S. carrier to return the Boeing 737 Max to service a few weeks ago, said Monday it will buy about two dozen more of the troubled aircraft.

United, which already has about 30 737 Max airliners in its fleet, entered into an agreement to acquire 25 more, according to a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Federal Aviation Administration lifted its ban on the 737 Max in November after they were grounded worldwide for more than a year, related to two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed close to 350 people.

A faulty sensor in the planes' automated flight system, which had pushed the doomed aircraft into a nosedive, was fixed by Boeing and approved by the FAA.

United said in its filing Monday that the new Max deliveries will be made in 2023, and the carrier is also moving up deliveries for 40 others.

Overall, United has firm commitments for 188 new 737 Max airliners. It and Alaska Airlines are the only U.S. carriers that operate the Max 9 model. Southwest and American operate Max 8s.

Monday's filing showed that United lost $7.1 billion last year amid declining demand related to COVID-19, and the airline expects capacity to be down at least 51% between January and April, compared to 2019.

United returned its 737 Max planes to service on Feb. 11. American was the first U.S. carrier to do so in December.