United Opens Talks on Aircraft Orders : Transportation: The airline is looking for ways to reduce spending.

United Airlines said Monday it has begun talks with Boeing Co. to significantly reduce its aircraft orders.

United is Boeing’s largest customer and the second-largest U.S. airline after American. It has 175 Boeing aircraft on order and options to buy another 258.

The decision to reduce spending on new aircraft reflects the persistent weakness in the airline industry. In another cost-cutting move, United announced last month that it was selling its Air Wisconsin subsidiary.

The airline industry’s Big Three--American, United and Delta--all have deferred deliveries and canceled options for aircraft.

“We remain very concerned with the ongoing economic turmoil in our industry,” Stephen Wolf, chairman of United and its parent corporation, UAL Corp., said in a statement.

“While United already has implemented significant cost-reduction programs, our losses have nevertheless continued at an alarming rate. We must, therefore, explore additional avenues to reduce our costs and thus improve our financial performance.”

Wolf said United “will take whatever steps are appropriate to ensure the long-term viability of the company.”

Dean Thornton, president of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, said in a statement, “We share United’s concern about the economic condition of the commercial aviation business. We will work with United to arrive at a mutually acceptable means of addressing its concerns.”

United said it was reviewing an earlier decision to retire its fleet of Boeing 747-SP jets, small-engine planes that seat 230 as opposed to 400 for a regular 747.

Last February, United decided to push back the delivery dates of 122 Boeing planes it had ordered or optioned for delivery during the 1992-95 period.

United dealt Boeing another blow in July when it agreed to lease 50 airliners from Europe’s Airbus Industrie and took an option to lease 50 more instead of buying 737-400 airplanes from Boeing.

In October, UAL reported a third-quarter profit of $21.5 million, which Wolf called “exceptionally poor.” That compared to a profit of $25 million a year earlier.

UAL’s stock fell $3.625 Monday to $115.75 a share and Boeing rose 25 cents to $34.625 on the New York Stock Exchange.

United made the announcement after trading ended on the NYSE.

United’s capital spending plans for the next three years are much larger than those of its two major competitors, analyst Sam Buttrick of Kidder Peabody & Co. said.

He said United planned capital expenditures of $9.3 billion for 1993 through 1995. American plans to spend $4.3 billion in the same period, and Delta plans to spend $5 billion to $6 billion, he said.

“With continuing difficult industry conditions, it would not be unusual to see United pare an additional $2 billion out of their program over the next two years,” Buttrick said.