I started flying UA for work sitting in the old Connoisseur seats. They were replaced in the late 90s with the cradle seats on the 744, 777 and 763. Those who flew the 762 in C earlier this century should have also expereienced the old Connoisseur seats before they were replaced with the PS configured 752.

I also remembered the first time I sat in the "new" cradle seats...it was better than any of the US carriers had offered at the time. Several 777s and 744 had cradle seats installed without the PTV as UA was aggressively phasing out the DC-10-10 and 741, and there were delays in getting delivery of the "new" IFE.

My brother and I have both flown UA since the Connoisseur days, and he recently experienced the new C for the first time. We compared notes about our reviews of the new C. Interestingly, both of us feel the new C is a bit narrow to sleep (even with the armrests down). If you get stuck in the window or the middle seats, it is hard to get out. Even if one has the aisle seat, one still gets disturbed by passengers trying to get out. We both sleep better in the cradle seats. The IFE is definitely better in the new C seats.

New C is definitely a nice improvement (due to the competition pressure mostly), but UA could have done a better job with layout and width of the seat and quality of materials used if it has more money and resounces.