Seby12

If Polaris is supposed to come to "767-300 retrofits." Then what is the point of retrofitting the current 3 class planes to 2 class planes (with the CO seat), only to change the seat again less than three years later.

TA

I'm sure part of it is that any changes take ~3 years to propagate through the fleet anyway, so they might as well keep going with their current plans because that later upgrade is not going to hit for these planes for 5 years or more... </cynicism>

thejaredhuang

Poor planning is the reason. Polaris is a veil to abolish GF. If UA was smart about it they would have rolled it out with the 763 retrofits but the want it to debut on the new 77W flagships. They should also debut it with all the new planes that are yet to be delivered (359, 789) but of course we know that the 789 probably won't have it for 3-5 years even though they'll be just as new as the Ws. I'm not sure if the 359 will debut with it but it'll be a Smisek if it doesn't.

I guess perception trumps double the work and cost.

sbm12

Because the company really doesn't want to have the Global First cabins flying any more and it already has the necessary certifications to make these changes and have them flying quickly.

Also a timing situation where the changes were planned and put in motion before Polaris was a viable option.

minnyfly

I can think of a few reasons, in no particular order.

1. The current 3-class 763 cabins have been need of refurbishment and can't wait
2. The 767 Polaris seat is not close to being ready like the 777 seat
3. Fleet commonality for the next few years
4. The economy cabin reconfiguration is important too and doesn't affect Polaris
5. ROI on the current upgrade is short. The 3-class 763 have to have a very high CASM with such a low seat count.

tuolumne

The 3-Cabin 67I > 2-Cabin 76E conversion was very likely conceived and given the green-light at the outset of the integration in 2011, under the guise of having a unified 767 fleet. As much as I personally love the 67I (what other airline has a 1-1-1 F product??), its premium-heavy density, not to mention its use of E seats that debuted in the late 90s, make it a tough sell on the European routes out of ORD and Dulles that it frequents.

The new United Polaris business class product wouldn't been seen for yet another 5 years. Sometimes planning can get complicated. Just look a DL - refurbished their entire 744 fleet, including installing all new AVOD Y seats, only to retire the whole fleet not 2 years later.

entropy

the IPTE 763 doesn't have many seats, and they think they can densify it with BF..

I doubt that the polaris planning had much to do with it, and they don't really have the intention of flying the 763s that long-term.

As for Polaris itself, yeah First class will be missed, but 90+% of the premium passengers are traveling on J tickets, not F tickets, and most of them are in the J cabin.

Pi7473000

It is too bad for the customer they Retrofitted the United 3 class 767 with the outdated PMCO product. The coach seats on PMCO are not nearly as comfortable and the premium class on the 2 class 767 is outdated. The GF in 1-1-1 was much nicer to fly to European destinations like LHR. The business class seats were also much more pleasant to sit in.

They should have waited for Polaris from a customer perspective although that is still a downgrade as United is losing F as a choice for international al travel. I think they did it as PMCO management wanted to turn United into a 2 class airline with less premium choices for the traveler.

The United Airlines 3 class 767s were a great airplane to fly. Now they feel outdated except for the updated PTVs in coach, but the seats are not as comfortable now using the PMCO seats.

EWR764

UA must think it can justify the investment on the 10 or so airplanes it will retrofit to the current 76E before Polaris by being able to sell an additional 33Y seats with a similar number of premium seats (29/30 vs. 31/32 depending on crew rest). The additional revenue potential must be in the millions of dollars annually, even as the incremental capacity typically draws much lower RASM.

uastarflyer

The overhead bins in Y date back to the '90s safety video

"Welcome aboard....*click*...by now you have stowed...."

mduell

I think it's more inertia than logic.

halls120

They want GF gone ASAP so that when Polaris is rolled out, people will forget how nice it was to have a real first class seat.

lhrsfo

The three class 763 had, IMHO, the most comfortable E+ product in the fleet.

halls120

It did. That bird has always been my favorite ride, front or back of the bus. Just another thing Smisek screwed up.

CHOPCHOP767

I suspect this might be the case because fleet utilization planning and the bookings for fleet modernizations and the contracts required to execute them take a significant amount of time to get initialed and signed. Likely, the contracts were executed long before Polaris was announced or even before it was in the white-board stages.

As my moniker suggests, I loved the three class planes. Best domestic carrier F ride to Europe and always a special treat for domestic service. Sign of the times when BOS -> LAX, formerly a three class 767 service, is now a one or two a day 737/319