They have started to activate Ch.9 on the 737s with AVOD. Each airplane has to be modified to get the audio directly from the #1 communications radio and that is done separately from the United Next conversion. I don't know how many are active, or how quickly they are being activated, but I did fly my first 737 with Ch.9 this weekend. It was an older (middle-aged) 737-800. The only way we can tell that it is active is the absence of the [INOP] sticker on the Ch.9 switch.
Many (most?) of the current 737 pilots have never flown a UAL airplane with Ch.9 so it might be a while for them to start using it regularly. But, since they're out there, it's worth checking when you're on one of those airplanes.
Originally Posted by
wxguy
I haven't flown UA's A321neo yet, but on all other birds it's under the "AUDIO" menu as a choice; you have to tap the > and then return to the previous menu. For those planes that have remotes, it shows "9" in the screen, which is a nice touch!
If someone could verify the procedure to access Ch.9, that would be very helpful. We included its availability in the welcome aboard announcement but neither of us had used it on an AVOD airplane so weren't sure exactly what it was called and where it was found.