WOEING FALLOUT: United asks pilots to take unpaid time off, citing Boeing’s delayed aircraft.

United confirmed the request for voluntary, unpaid time off. The airline previously said it would pause pilot hiring this spring because of aircraft arriving late from Boeing, CNBC reported last month.

The union said it expects United to offer more time off “for the summer bid periods and potentially into the fall.”

United was contracted to receive 43 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes and 34 Max 9 models this year, but now expects to receive 37 and 19, respectively, according to a company filing in February. It had expected Boeing would also hand over 80 Max 10s this year and 71 next year. That model hasn’t yet been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, and the airline removed them from the delivery schedule because it is “unable to accurately forecast the expected delivery period,” it said in the filing.

The sad thing is that Boeing is the only American option remaining for large passenger jets.