Jan 23 (Reuters) - United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in a CNBC interview on Wednesday the company was going to build a fleet plan that does not include Boeing's 737 MAX 10 jets, citing delivery delays.

In the best case, MAX 10 deliveries are five years behind the original delivery date, Kirby added. United had placed orders for 150 MAX 10s in 2021 and retained an option to convert the order to other MAX variants.

U.S. planemaker Boeing has said it expects the MAX 10 to be certified in 2024.

Shares of United Airlines rose 6.8% in premarket trading on Tuesday after an upbeat 2024 profit forecast from the carrier despite an impact from grounding its entire fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets earlier this month.

Boeing's MAX 9 jets were grounded indefinitely by the Federal Aviation Administration for safety checks after a cabin panel of an Alaska Airlines plane blew off mid-flight on Jan. 5.

The airline, however, expects an adjusted loss of 35 cents to 85 cents per share in the current quarter, assuming all its 79 MAX 9 planes remain grounded through the end of January.

United Airlines said on Monday it expects an adjusted profit of $9 to $11 per share in 2024, with the midpoint well above analysts' average expectation of $9.58.

"The quarter's beat included good cost control and lower fuel prices," Citi analyst Stephen Trent wrote in a note, while reiterating a "buy" rating on the company's stock.

Shares of United were trading 4.04 times forward profit estimates, compared with an industry median of 6.61.

"Overall demand for travel remains strong and is expected to grow in the years ahead," Third Bridge senior analyst Christopher Raite said. While a full recovery of business travel is unlikely, airlines such as United still have growth ahead in international markets and healthy U.S. consumers, Raite added. (Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)