I am currently required to fly with oxygen and I have accumulated quite a bit of information regarding its availability on UA planes. I thought this information might be handy to others who may face the same situation or know someone who needs to fly with O2 on UA.
You need to arrange for Medical Oxygen at least 48 hours in advance of the flight, by calling United and giving them the flight information. The Medical Desk will contact you for your doctor's information and they will send him the Oxygen Request form to complete and fax back.
If you are a frequent flyer, you can have your doctor sign a blanket request so you do not have to contact him/her for each flight. UA will accept a blanket request for up to 12 months, by indicating that on the Oxygen Request form in the Physician Section under Special Instructions. You can find the form on
this page of united.com.
Even though all other legacy carriers complied two years ago with the federal mandate that personal oxygen concentrators be allowed for use on planes, UA has not. However, they will be forced to comply with the deadline of May 13, 2009. I guess they are holding onto that $125 per segment revenue stream for as long as they can.
After the compliance date UA plans to continue to offer medical oxygen on flights, while other legacy carriers don't. This actually is a benefit, because in order to fly with a personal oxygen concentrator on all the other legacy carriers you need to carry sufficient batteries for up to 150% of your flight time. UA hasn't come out with their rules yet, but they will be that at a minimum. So even if I had my own POC I would opt for their O2 on International flights to save the expense of purchasing several batteries.
That being said, UA provides medical oxygen only at the following seats in the following aircraft:
Code:
319
F: 1 C&D
Y: E+ 10 A-F
320 (mainline)
F: 1 C&D
Y: E+ 7 D-F
TED
Y: E+ 7A-F
737-300
F: 2 C&D
Y: E+ 5 A-F; 6 A-F
737-300
F: 2 C&D
Y: E+ 6 A-F; 7 A-F
737-500 (102 SEATS & 96 SEATS)
F: 2 C&D
Y: E+ 6 A-F; 7 A-F
747-400
F: 2 A, J; 4 A, J
C: 6 A, B, G, H; 7 A, B, G, H
Y: E+ 33 A-C, H-K; 36-38 A-C, H-K
Y: E- 59-60 A, B, H, J
747-400C (newly configured aircraft)
F: 2-4 A, J
C: 6-9 and 12-16 A, B, J, K, 17 J, K
Y: E+ 23-24 A, B, C, H, J, K
Y: E- 33-34 A, B, C, H, J, K
757-200
F: 2 C&D
Y: E+ 10 A-C; 11 A-F; 12 D-F
757-200ps
F: 1D
C: 6 A-D
Y: E+ 15 D-F; 16 D-F; 17 D-F
767-300 2 cabin
F: 3 A, B, H, J
Y: E+ 15 A, B, H, J
Y: E- 26-28 A-B, H-J
767-300 3 cabin
F: 1 A, B, E, F
C: 7 A, B, E, F; 8 A, B, E, F
Y: E+ 19 A, B, F, G
767-300 IPTE (newly configured cabin)
F: 1 A
C: 8 A, K
Y: E+ 23 A, K
Y: E- none
777-200 2 cabin
F: 4-6 A-B, H-J
Y: E+ ABSOLUTELY NONE!
Y: E- 28-33 A, B, H, J; 41-44 A, B, H, J
777-200 3 cabin
F: 1 A, J; 2 A, J
C: 8-9 A, B, H, J
Y: E+ 18-24 A, B, H, J
You might as well pick one of these seats at the start, even though most of them are not great, or they will just move you out of your choice and into an approved seat.
The truly aggravating part is that the plane I am on the most is the 777 2-class plane which has no O2 access anywhere in the E+ section. With IM holding onto upgrades until the gate nowadays, it looks like I'm going to be stuck in E- until mid-May.
UA will not move the O2 to a new seat for me if I get upgraded at the gate because there won't be time. In fact I have been told it is questionable as to whether they will move my O2 to an upgraded seat unless it is confirmed 48 hours in advance.