Shinohara: United Airlines’s Boeing 737 Max 8 arrival ‘a long time coming’ for Guam
BY SKYLER OBISPO
Journal Staff
United Airlines officially welcomed the first Boeing 737 Max 8 to its Guam fleet at a launch event on March 19.
The aircraft arrived in February and was the first in the airline’s plans to replace the Guam fleet over the course of the year, and has been “surprising and delighting customers” over the past six weeks according to United’s managing director for Airport Operations for the Asia-Pacific Region, Samuel V. Shinohara.
Shinohara said the arrival of the Max 8 was “a long time coming” for Guam and the airline.
United Airlines hosted a launch ceremony at its hangar in Tiyan on March 19. Photo by Skyler Obispo
“[Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero] mentioned that, I think almost ten, seven or eight years ago, we talked about swapping out the airplanes,” he said. “To make this happen, we’ve had to engage everybody across the globe.”
This new aircraft boasts up to 164 seats in total with access to USB charge ports, Bluetooth capabilities, United’s inflight entertainment, and in-flight Wi-Fi that can be purchased by passengers with Starlink enabled Wi-Fi coming soon.
According to United’s Vice President of Flight Operations Marc Champion, the Max 8 has a range of roughly 3,500 miles and burns 14% less fuel per seat than the model it is replacing. Shinohara said this allows the plane to carry the same amount of fuel while flying a bit further.
Champion, talking to reporters, compared the Max 8 to its predecessor, like a Pinto to a Ferrari in terms of the technological capabilities in the cockpit.
“It’s a pretty big leap in technology,” Champion said. “The airplane flies faster, flies higher, it flies more efficiently than the old 737.”
Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero spoke at the event emphasizing the importance of air connectivity for Guam, calling it “our lifeline infrastructure.”
“It’s through air connectivity that we can improve our commerce and trade. It’s through air connectivity that we can provide healthcare to our people, through air connectivity we can [better educate] our children, through air connectivity our families can go off and visit , through air connectivity the defense of Guam is better prepared,” she said.
Leon Guerrero said according to the International Air Transport Association, there is a backlog of 17,000 planes and that 12 years of production is needed to fulfill the demand. So when an airline decides to give out airplanes, she said it is a “strategic decision.”
Palau President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. told the Journal the arrival of the Max 8 provides critical opportunities for market diversification and essential healthcare services to Palau.
One of the features on the Max 8 is the ability to accommodate stretcher seating. Moreover, the Micronesian region is the only part of United’s global network where it provides medical accommodations which include medical discounted fares, oxygen services, and the stretcher service.
Daniel Weiss, managing director for global government and regulatory affairs at United, told the Journal approximately 900 passengers avail of those medical accommodations each year.
Because Palau’s population is too small to support certain medical specialties, many need to be flown by medevac to receive care. Whipps said that having the aircraft maintains a “critical service” for the island.
“Having that medevac ability, when that mother or fathers is coming and crying, ‘I need my son, medevac’d out of here’, to have that option is so important,” he said.
In terms of tourism, the Max 8 eliminates the weight restrictions common with the older 737 models.
Whipps said the new aircraft can carry more passengers and hopes to reach other destinations like Australia and Singapore which will net tourists from India, a market that has shown interest.
The first regularly scheduled flights from Guam to be operated by a Boeing 737 Max 8 will begin on April 30 from Guam to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. Also, the aircraft will operate the Narita-Ulaanbaatar route starting April 30 and from Narita to Koror on May 2.
Champion said there are no new routes that can be announced at this time.
By the end of this year, United will replace its Guam-fleet of 10 Boeing 737-800s with the new Max 8s. Some of the 737-800s have been operating for 22 to 23 years, well past the typical service life of the model.
Shinohara said the older planes will be flown back to the U.S. to be stripped and upgraded. mbj
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