Regional partners of United Airlines may benefit from the US major’s decision to dramatically slash mainline capacity, as routes currently operated with Boeing 737s are down-gauged to regional jets.

Speaking today at Merrill Lynch’s global transportation conference in New York, United CFO Jake Brace said the carrier does not have current plans to change its regional structure and “right now that capacity remains in place”.

He says some of United’s 737 routes will be down-gauged to 50- to 70-seaters, which are operated by regional affiliates under the United Express banner.

Earlier this month United announced plans to remove a total 100 mainline aircraft, including its 94-strong 737 Classics fleet and six Boeing 747s. About 80 aircraft are expected to be out of the system by the end of 2008, with the other 20 coming out by the end of 2009.

“We don’t think about those planes [737s] coming back,” says

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