United Air’s Grounded 777s Had Troubled History in Debt Markets
- Planes were among the oldest included in recent bond deals
- Investors had been reluctant to lend against the aging fleet
United grounded two dozen of its older planes after Saturday’s incident.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Before coming under scrutiny because of a mid-air engine explosion, United Airlines Holdings Inc.’s aging fleet of Boeing Co. 777s had already garnered plenty of criticism in credit markets.
The aircraft that showered debris over a Denver suburb this past weekend was among assets that investors had been reluctant to accept as collateral last year when the airline sought to borrow billions of dollars to ride out the pandemic, according to flight records and debt documents reviewed by Bloomberg.