SFO 1K

As I mentioned upthread, the hundreds digit in the nose numbers had to do with the config inside the plane. Variations in seating configuration, lower lobe crew rest, etc. etc. There is a very real reason for each number. When an aircraft would go in for a retrofit/upgrade of some sort, the hundreds digit would be updated to relabel the bird. So, there was nothing random about it.

JOSECONLSCREW28

I disagree. 5401, 5302, 5305, 5404, 5305, 5458, 5598, 5684, 5757, 5997 seems pretty random to me.

SFO 1K

Sigh...

53XX = P.S. Non ETOPS
54XX = Non-ETOPS
55XX = ETOPS
56XX = Overwater Equipped
57XX = Not in fleet anymore
59XX = ETOPS + Winglets

Not random.

JOSECONLSCREW28

Sigh...
You can sugar coat this all you want but 53xx, 54xx, 55xx, 56xx, 57xx, 59xx all seem pretty random to me (I'm sure many others will agree with me) And interestingly the only aircraft that changed the tail #s after the merger was the last few 777s getting reconfigured in the IPTE configuration. The 757s that got reconfigured those numbers didn't change numbers, nor did the 2-cabin 763s, the "Hawaiian" 777s or the A319/A320s aren't getting their numbers changed either they are keeping the same tail #s they had prior to getting reconfigured. Example PS 757 N595UA was previously in domestic configuration. it was 5995 prior to reconfiguration and is still 5995 after configuration. 6673 was a 763 in domestic configuration and :gasp: it's still 6673 after getting reconfiguration.

I also have it on good authority that the A350s and any newly delivered aircraft will be using the CO style registrations.

SFO 1K

I would theorize that the UA way of assigning nose numbers has gone the way of the dodo bird that's why the numbers aren't changing under to CO regime. But pre merger there was order and logic.

Now there isn't.

mduell

Here's what I was replying to:

The United mapping between tail number and ship number is far from straightforward, as repeatedly demonstrated here.

I know why it is, but it makes the mapping from tail number to ship number Infinite1K mentioned very non-straightforward.

Why were planes allocated in random order to different subfleets? That's not very orderly.

SFO 1K

Good question!

The last two numbers represented the order of delivery of the aircraft. As different aircraft were delivered and reconfigured, the hundreds digit would change. The last two did not.

If this numbering system continued today, we'd have a variant for sCO 739, another for 739ER another for sUA 739ER and so forth. Note this would impact NOSE number, not tail number. The plane would still be NXYYUA.

Regardless, none of it matters anymore since this isn't the numbering plan for the future.

REPUBLIC757

Count me in for this too. They are crap. In some ways I think Boeing might be more pathetic than UA for only offering 739ER some 12-13 years after the first production instead of offering up a true 757 replacement. Remember that quite a few of the 739s are not new at all, they are from 2001-2002.

Boeing threw all their eggs into one basket with the PMS queen 787. Now they have to backtrack.

ckjmglee

Flew from EWR-SEA on a 737-900 with the new slimline seats. These seats, as many have mentioned, are just not comfortable.

Exit row with an empty middle seat made it somewhat tolerable as I could sit at an angle for much of the six hour flight. There was power between seats, but it cut out repeatedly. No IFE.

The sUA SEA based FA's did a great job.

LASUA1K

Flying from ORD anywhere, and you are stuck on these things. I just connected via DEN to avoid the 739.

UA-NYC

With the A320 slimline seats coming, you're just running out of good planes unfortunately...

SFO 1K

DEN isn't exempt. A recent DEN-MSY operated with one that had been delivered just a day before.

Indelaware

That is a matter of opinion. I like the sCO 739s - especially since they still have the original CO style seats. The sUA 739s and all the Airbuses have sUA seats which I find much too soft for comfort. Others, of course, feel the reverse. The point is that it is a matter of personal and will very from person to person.

No need to make a blanket equipment that the bird is junk. Or have you knowledge that they fall out of the sky more regularly than other aircraft?

EmailKid

No worries, slimlines are going live fleetwide @:-)

Belive new 737s now come with slimlines from Boeing, though I could be wrong about that.

LASUA1K

I'm sorry but any 739, sCO, sUA or whatever, are pure miserable. The A321 is superior in every way in comfort. Once again they bought an old technolgy aircraft that is not comfortable. First class is worse than E+ on this aircraft. The aircraft needs more time than a 747 to takeoff. They should've held on to the 57's until the max was ready. Even then the Max won't compete with the new A321.