Originally Posted by
NA-Flyer
I believe this seat is not a revolutionize product.
Though it definitely is not intended to be a revolutionary product. Rather, one that incorporates industry-standard (even cutting-edge) features and tech in a much more design-focused way than United has been in at least a generation. Certainly since the merger.
What's somewhat revolutionary is the Polaris Studio product, which is being positioned as premium in a way JetBlue hasn't quite done with its Mint Studio product, and AA is so backwards that we hardly know what the Flagship Preferred is going to look like. United is clearly shooting for a differentiated "halo effect" luxury-caliber product with caviar, LP Rose, higher-end amenities, etc., and even though we won't see it for a few months at least, I think they've scored a first-mover advantage here.
Originally Posted by
zombietooth
The remaining non-suite seats are likely to have less space than what we have now, so normal J customers are likely to get hosed by these developments.
It's a less dense product. Polaris 2.0 is more spacious than current 787 Polaris 1.0 across the board.
Originally Posted by
bocastephen
This is the most expensive "meh" I ever saw. A barely incremental improvement over the current seat, but now if you want to look out the window, you better know yoga. Although I'm sure the FAs will make sure there is no need to look out the window by dimming them to 100% after wheels up. Maybe someone can point out the big improvements here, but I see less space, a tighter, cramped seat, smaller footwells. But oh, the door
The bigger meh - and I didn't see another thread for this - are the other non-Polaris seats on these planes. The biggest disappointment surely must be an already industry-worst premium economy seat, made even worse. While most other airlines are really investing in huge PY improvements, what I saw in the release today were photos of a super-uncomfortable ultra-thin back seat that appears to be a major step backwards in comfort and space. No way I would pay to sit in that seat beyond 5-6 hours. The current PY seat was barely tolerable HNL-LAX, how could it be an industry leading product for 12+ hours?
Don't rely too much on the renderings. They are useful, but not really true to life. This is not going to be a tighter product on the than the current Polaris 1.0 787. It's not just that the first-row suites are bigger, even the standard seats take up more real estate. But the most noticeable difference will be in width when comparing apples to apples (787 to 787). The 32 seats in A-zone on the 787 take up a fair bit more square footage than the current configuration and consequently some cabin monuments have been moved around.
I don't think UPP is a great product as it is, but to be fair, United isn't positioning it as industry leading. As it is now, it's basically industry average: the most common seat (MiQ), at the most common pitch (38") and amenities in line with what mostly everyone else has.