UA-NYC

Thanks much! 5 point scale works well, will give us a more nuanced view of the general distaste (strong/mild) for these seats

SEA1K4EVR

I'm typing this from on board a reconfigured A320, aircraft #4624 . I'm in F and haven't tried the new economy seats yet although this is my 3rd trip on a reconfigured plane. I purchased wifi on this one.. SEA-ORD is $9.99.

Where is this content streaming that was mentioned in the OP? Fortunately I was able to stream an episode of Breaking Bad from Netflix.. I watched the whole thing with no signal interruptions. There must be not very many people on board using it.

On the flight status screen for UA618 today it says: Inflight Entertainment:
Wi-Fi access is available for purchase on this flight. Free audio programming is also available, and offers live cockpit communications with air traffic control on Channel 9, a feature that's unique to United.

There is no audio at all. Strangely on a recent flight from SFO-LAS I was on an A320 with wifi, but it still had the audio jacks and video monitors installed. The video was not functional but the audio worked so clearly it's possible to have both. Why didn't they just leave the audio in place until they were ready to install the streaming content??

Feels like the whole process was half baked. I was able to provide my own streaming content today, but I don't think that will always be possible.

kwflyer

Flew IAD-LAX on the A320 recently with the new slimline seats. Can't say I'm impressed.

I got moved to an exit row, which the agent assured me still reclined (it didn't). The recline definitely looks less than the regular seats.

For a trans con, even with the supposed added packing, the back of the seat was eating into my lower back after hour 3, and I'm a young guy that can tolerate a lot of discomfort. Adjustable Headrest was nice but the compliments stop there.

i am not convinced E+ has more legroom than E- with the new seats. It sure didn't look like it. Those who may pay a premium to move up to E+ should take note of this if you're on a trans con.

Wifi was available at $10 , lots of people beside me reporting disconnections, in fact when i tried to connect, I couldn't even get onto the login screen!. It reminded of the wifi that Greyhound provides on its buses - nice to have, but definitely not worth paying for due to connectivity/bandwith issues.

No meals available for purchases, just snack boxes. Completely unacceptable for a 5 hour flight - even on a mini red eye flight (some people are on different time zones).

The flight was just barely above a US Scareways trans con, and at times actually thought I was back aboard US. It really did not feel like a UA flight.

While i could see a benefit for these seats to be utilized on >3 hour routes, physically and psychologically, pax should expect more on a trans con.

Channel9Fan

After two captains telling me that Channel 9 ATC will be eliminated on the entertainment system of United's Airbus fleet (320 and 319) I contacted management and it was confirmed. I am devastated by this news. They are adding WiFi and streaming video. I have listened to Channel 9 on every flight for years gate to gate. It will be hard to plan my trips without flying the Airbus but I will have to try. I have not been on a former Continental 737 that has it but I hear they will eventually. I am sure there are other UA flyers that will not like to hear this news. Let's hope enough people voice their displeasure regarding this decision and somehow they will reconsider.

keloutwest

Thoughts on why they would do that, or what specifically about Airbus or planned Airbus upgrades would cause them to want (or have to) remove channel 9?

sbm12

Welcome to FlyerTalk. We've known for a few months now: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...nel-9-etc.html.

And they're not going to change their minds.

They're removing the IFE kit, including the wiring for audio in the seats.

halls120

Just another change we're going to like. Thanks, Jeff.

uthornsgo

I'm probably in the minority but I would much rather be productive and get work done on wifi from gate to gate than listen to the pilots. This is way down the list of things I could complain about. My sympathies to those that value it.

WineCountryUA

I think many question why it has to be an either or choice.

mre5765

I question why Channel 9 cannot be streamed over wifi. And while they are it, they should stream a cockpit view over video. People would probably pay for that; the next best thing to riding a cockpit jump seat.

Getting rid of wires is generally goodness though.

tashi

I was on a SAN-IAD A320 flight last week and the captain came on the PA before take off and apologized for the removal of IFE and asked people to write to customer service about their feedback.

WineCountryUA

But for now that would be limited to above 10,000 feet. -- ^ for video view -- either cockpit or nose view.
Likely to be a long time before aircraft wifi below 10K.

MatthewLAX

This is the key issue. United is already way behind in the wi-fi department so it is not just important, but vital to get wi-fi onboard as many domestic aircraft as quickly as possible, but look at what AA just did with their new A319s. Only 8 seats in F, like UA, but wi-fi and a cool IMS Rave system at each seat that could no doubt handle channel 9.

sbm12

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9930; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.755 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

They can stream it. And they said they might. Odds of getting a live view in the cockpit are near nil for several reasons.

UA is behind in wifi deployment for all sorts of reasons, from decisions they made to the FAA changing rules. But that's not the same issue, really.

kale73

Seriously?