United Airlines sells, leases back 20 Boeing 737 MAX 9 in deal with SMBC
The SLB transaction covers 20 Boeing 737 MAX 9 scheduled for delivery in 2025 and 2026.
SMBC Aviation Capital, an aircraft lessor based in Ireland, has announced that it has reached an agreement with United Airlines to buy and leaseback 20 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft to the airline.
On December 10, 2025, SMBC Aviation Capital said that it entered “into agreements with United Airlines” regarding sales and leasebacks (SLBs) for 20 737 MAX 9 aircraft, which Boeing should deliver in 2025 and 2026.
According to the aircraft lessor, the transaction was the third major agreement between the airline and SMBC Aviation Capital, with the carrier previously having agreed to lease 20 Airbus A321neo aircraft and an SLB transaction involving 20 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Michael Leskinen, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of United Airlines, praised the lessor for its “thoughtful approach” to structure the SLB that supported the airline’s fleet strategy, allowing United Airlines to “deliver even better experiences for our customers.”
“We value our strong, longstanding relationship with SMBC Aviation Capital and their role in our ongoing fleet modernization.”
According to Boeing’s orders and deliveries filings, the manufacturer had delivered 46 737 MAX aircraft to United Airlines in 2025 as of November 30, as well as six 787-9s. Per planespotters.net, 33 of those 737 MAXs were 737 MAX 9 aircraft, with the carrier welcoming another 737 MAX 9, registered as N17417, on December 5.
At the end of November, the airline had 275 unfilled 737 MAX orders.
Meanwhile, United Airlines’ Q3 investor update showed that the airline, which began the year with 209 737 MAX aircraft – both MAX 8 and MAX 9 – planned to end 2025 with 244 737 MAXs in its fleet, four more than it had estimated at the end of Q2.
This is not the first SLB transaction that United Airlines has agreed to or completed in 2025. On November 26, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) announced that it had delivered 10 737 MAX 9s to the airline under the pair’s previous SLB agreement.
For an airline, an SLB transaction is a way to generate cash using its order book or already operated assets (aircraft or engines). In return, while leasing payments could – but not always do – overshadow financing costs, carriers can also reduce their tax burden, according to PwC.
Aircraft lessors get hold of an asset that not only generates cash through lease payments for the duration of the lease, but they can also later remarket the aircraft and/or engines or scrap for parts after the lease ends.
In Q3, United Airlines’ aircraft rent payments were $54 million, compared to $64 million in Q3 2024, with the airline recognizing gains of $75 million on “various aircraft sale-leaseback transactions.”
Rytis Beresnevicius
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