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United Airlines is expanding an earlier order for Airbus' A350 jetliner, handing the planemaker a critical win in its battle with Boeing for supremacy in the wide-body jet market. The deal for 45 of the A350-900 planes, which is valued at US$14b before customary discounts, replaces an earlier order for 35 of Airbus’s bigger and pricier A350-1000s. Earlier this year, United had indefinitely deferred the first 4 aircraft as it re-evaluated fleet plans. Deliveries of the new Airbus jetliners won’t begin until 2022, when United’s oldest Boeing 777 jets will start to reach retirement age. The transaction establishes Airbus’s marquee wide-body jet as a possible replacement for Boeing’s top-selling 777 aircraft at United, which was the launch customer for the twin-aisle jet in 1995. <br/>

United Continental vowed to keep discounting fares amid an expanding price war that contributed to a projected US$400m blow to Q3 sales. The carrier will continue fighting LCCs with cheap tickets at major hubs despite the short-term pain, CFO Andrew Levy said Wednesday. The clash is adding to pressure from the impact of Hurricane Harvey, weak pricing on trans-Pacific flights and a rocky start for new no-frills fares, which are all weighing on revenue. “We don’t like where the fare structures are right now. And we don’t like the effect it has on short-term earnings,” Levy said. “It is painful, difficult, but we’re going to see it through.” While good news for travellers, the multiple financial blows prompted United to chop its Q3 forecast for revenue from each seat flown a mile. <br/>

United Airlines said Wednesday it is scaling back the rollout of the Basic Economy fare the airline first introduced last February. United CFO Andrew Levy said the rollback decision was due to "competitive challenges." A United spokeswoman did not respond to a request to specify how many — or which — markets United has targeted to lose the Basic Economy fare offering — at least for now. But United's move to eliminate Basic Economy in some markets comes after the carrier boldly rolled out the new fare category to more than 100 markets last April. United's announcement also comes just 1 day after American Airlines rolled out its version of Basic Economy in every market the carrier serves in the contiguous 48 states. <br/>

United Continental Holdings avoided a fine for the April incident in which passenger David Dao was dragged off a plane by Chicago security officials. The US DoT found that an enforcement action against United wasn’t warranted, according to a May 12 letter that was obtained by Flyers Rights. Dao’s forcible removal from a flight was captured on video and sparked worldwide condemnation of the airline and multiple apologies by CE Oscar Munoz. The board canceled Munoz’s expected 2018 elevation to chairman and tied compensation more closely to customer service. United averted a lawsuit by settling out of court with Dao. United said it had made “meaningful strides that improve our customer experience.” Incidents in which passengers have been denied boarding have fallen 90% since May 1 compared with the same period a year earlier, the carrier said. <br/>