United Orders Six Boeing Jetliners

United Airlines ordered two Boeing 747-400s and four 757 jetliners, worth a total of about $570 million.

United plans to use the 747 jumbo jets to replace older planes on overseas routes and the smaller 757s on domestic routes, Boeing Co. said Thursday.

Last week, United said it plans to retire its 747-100s, DC10s and early model 737-200s over the next five years to cut operating and maintenance costs.

The aircraft will be delivered between April and June of next year.

Orders have been hard to come by recently for Boeing, which is cutting thousands of jobs because of production slowdowns. Last year, the company received just 230 orders - and only two for 747-400s.

So far this year, Boeing has announced orders for 82 jets, including those from United.