Quietest cabins/planes
 

I remember flying in a fairly new A320 on UA (might've been 319, not sure) from SFO-PDX on E+ (row 6) and it was the quietest plane I've flown in ever! The 2nd quietest one was a 757 from SMF-LAX and I was in E- back then, but it was very comfortable. Speaking of which, is F usually quieter? I flew in F on a 757 but couldn't really notice. On the CR-7 I noticed that the back is much louder than the front due to the engines being in the back.

Loudest must be sitting in Row 43 or something on an LH A340. I'd always fly a 777 over A330-340 if I get to choose. A330 and A340 are just crappy products, I don't even know why airlines would buy it over a 777/767.

All planes are equally as quiet once you have your earplugs in, noise-cancellation headphone on, or canal earphones properly placed.

those are pretty uncomfortable except the noise cancellation headphones. It'd be nice not having to wear them to get a quiet environment though.

I was on a VS 747 flight in Upper Class was pretty quiet

For one thing, A330's are more fuel efficient and (IIRC) have a lot more cargo uplift capacity than 767's. On the other hand, 777's beat A340's in those categories. So from an airline's point of view, A330 > 767 but 777 > A340. From the passenger's point of view, I think any difference in aircraft-generated noise is swamped by differences in passenger-generated noise -- crying babies, rowdy jr. high school students on a class trip, etc. I bet if you pay attention to that factor you could correlate apparently quiet cabins with a light pax load, far more reliably than you could correlate it with aircraft type.

Surprised the OP found the A320 to be quiet, given the buzzsaw noise it makes while climbing. :)

By far, the "quietest" spot on any UA aircraft is the UD on the 744s, IMHO.

The 777 is pretty quiet once it's reached cruising altitude.

In your opinion. I have no problems wearing any of them for extended periods of time really.

That's because you always travel in F class. :)

The buzzsaw noise is practically non-existent once you get close to and behind the wings.

Like there's any other way? :D

What, do those hydraulic pumps that whine for about 5 minutes after the plane parks drown out the buzzsaw? Or is it the clinking brake noise? Or the crying babies in Y? :D

Quietest economy flight I ever flew was on a VS 346. Simply amazed how quiet it was. Equally amazing was the length of the take-off roll ;)

Quietest UA would be a tossup between UD C 744 and 1A 744. Haven't been in F on a 772 yet, but C was nothing special, aircraft noise-wise, IMO.

Pat

757s can make that buzzsaw noise on climbout too.

I think the A 319/320 are quieter than 733/735; and the 777 can be very hushed on takeoff.

The EMB 170/190 are pretty quiet.

I agree very little noise from the plane and usually pretty quiet from passengers as well.

Concur. F in the 170 (haven't flown the 190 yet) is amazingly quiet for a RJ with wing-mounted engines. Almost forget I'm on a "little" plane. :) Very clean and crisp operations (flaps/landing gear, etc).

Pat

I find a 747 UD to be the quietest, but also have never flown a 747 in F. 777 in F is very quiet too but still not like the UD.

Since the discussion seems to be spanning airlines other than United, I'm going to move this discussion (quietly, I hope) to TravelBuzz! so other members of the community can share in it.

Aloha,

FlyinHawaiian, Co-Moderator
United Mileage Plus Forum