The grounding of Boeing 737 Max airplanes is making it harder for United to plan for next year. United CFO Gerry Laderman told analysts on a conference call Wednesday that they can assume that United won't get all the Max jets it was expecting from Boeing through next year. Executives said the airline will grow at a slightly slower pace than it planned next year as a result. United expected to have 30 Max jets in its fleet by now and to receive another 28 next year. But the plane has been grounded since March after deadly accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia, and Boeing suspended deliveries. It is unclear when the Max will fly again. Boeing is still working on flight-control software that erroneously pushed the noses of the two accident planes down; pilots were unable to regain control. United has nearly 800 planes in its fleet, not counting smaller jets used by United Express. The Chicago-based airline recently agreed to buy 19 used Boeing 737s, but Laderman said that was unrelated to the loss of the Max planes.<br/>
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United prodded Boeing for details on a proposed new jetliner for middle-distance routes, even as the planemaker races to get its workhorse 737 Max back into the skies. The world’s second-biggest airline is contemplating how to replace 130 of its older Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft, which are used on a variety of domestic and international routes but are less efficient than newer jets. As Boeing decides whether to build its “new midmarket airplane,” or NMA, Airbus SE is plowing ahead with a longer-range version of its A321neo. “We would like to see some clarity so that we can make the choice,” United CFO Gerry Laderman said on a conference call Wednesday to discuss earnings. “But we do have a little bit of time.” The longer-range A321 increases pressure on Boeing to provide more details on the NMA -- dubbed the 797 by analysts -- so that customers can assess which model is more suited to their needs. While Boeing continues to study the business case for the NMA with a goal of starting commercial service in 2025, the company’s main priority is returning the Max to service after two deadly crashes and a grounding that has already lasted four months. Boeing’s plans for the NMA are in question after the planemaker last week reassigned the executive spearheading the effort, Mark Jenks, to take charge of the 737 program. Mike Sinnett, a senior engineer who had been leading Boeing’s product strategy and future airplane development team, added the NMA to his portfolio as part of the executive shuffle. “This move seems a clear sign that the NMA program is on ice,” Bank of America Corp. analyst Ron Epstein said in a note to clients this week. “While this doesn’t imply the NMA program won’t happen, it now appears it won’t happen anytime soon.”<br/>