The newest UA 320 is 13 years old.

I'll take it over the 739 every day of the week.

Although the lack of power is absolutely inexcusable on an aircraft that relies on PDE.

Why would an airline make more and more economy seats slimline? I think part of it is that most of the current non-elite travelling public have low standards and really do not demand a level of cushioning. I call it the "point A to point B" mentality" where a lot people view the function of air travel as solely to transport them to where they want to go and with no care about the comfort, entertainment and service. Therefore, airlines like UA can get away with it.

It is only a matter of time where this slimline design is the standard among the big 4 no matter what the age of the plane is. This is revenue motivated to get elites who demand comfort to simply start buying more premium tickets out of frustration that their desire for a minimum standard of comfort is no longer being met. In this way an elite does not have to play the upgrade game and gets their seat of choice confirmed at the time of purchase.

Those 3 class planes are an utter embarassment. It looks old, smells old, and has overhead bins sized for cameras only; and only a person in the last century would love the antiquity.

Fly the two class 767's they're beautiful birds.

Having flown the two class in coach on two occasions, the seats are fine. The old and new iterations are totally different, one old and ugly, the other you take to show your mom.

I was on a 320 to Vegas and it had free video streaming, and depending on what row you had or if it had the new seats, it had power outlets

The movie selection was in fact great. There's just no such thing as a smart phone that will have enough battery to get you through the flight with juice left over for your destination.

I'm sure I'm not the only one with the issue. Even though three announcements were made explaining how the system worked, it seemed like maybe one out of twenty people were using it. Fifty movies with no battery to watch one is not an amenity

Oh, and the FA made an announcement clarifying that there are no power outlets on board, and sorry.

I just don't understand how purchasing ten overhead lcd monitors to show a movie would have broken the budget on the aircraft.

This is interesting but irrelevant if that person is then prepared, next time, to book JetBlue even if it's $5 more. It has been proven beyond any doubt that the great majority of non-frequent flyers will not pay extra for extra bundled amenities.

That's a fair criticism. Like others above, I always try to stay as fully charged as possible before a flight and bring a portable battery charger. The A319/320 fleet is scheduled to be retrofitted with power starting Q3 this year, though only to F and E+.

The Airbuses used to have those drop down LCD screens though they were removed when they were redone with slimlines, larger bins, and WiFi/streaming. So I don't think it's that the screens are necessary expensive to install themselves� it's that the plane (presumably) burns less fuel without the weight of the overhead screens. I guess it sucks, but who's watching that old crappy rerun of Big Bang Theory or NBC Inflight (remember that?) anyway?

Here's the CO AVOD system on the 752 in 2007 - notice the barcalounger BF on the 752! I think this may have been one of the first 752s with AVOD.

I think AVOD went into the pmCO 752s and 777s during a typically lengthy upgrade starting in 2008 and not completing until 2012. The 764 didn't get AVOD until they were reconfigured with lie flat in 2012? I think.

FT thread on CO's 752/772 AVOD conversions.

Many airlines fly TATL routes using 757s: CO/NW/DL/AA/US all did so at some point. Why the surprise at something that started in the late 1990s?

Define quality carriers. I've flown J on SQ, does that count?

The only time I've been in J on one of my many TATL flights was years ago on British Caledonia. Wonderful little airline. DC19. Well before cocoon seats with flatbeds but very classy service.
I was very disappointed when BA bought them out.

To be clear, one may (as I did for many years) choose to fly United for its frequent flyer program, its routes or its prices. But in terms of in flight experience, I think United comes up short against a great many in coach and business (in which frankly I think you have include United Global First). Of what I've flown lately:

-Virgin America, Jet Blue, Delta (int'l domestic) I think are all better experiences by a measurable amount than United. American needs to finish its merger and still has some old old old J flying around, but I think will end in a better place.

-Lufthansa - old J is a joke but otherwise it's a quality airline. Y is a little tight.

-British Airways - Perhaps not what it used to be but much more professional flight attendants, much much better J catering and seats, better lounges, Y and Y+ a little better. Austrian and Swiss are miles better.

-Turkish has wonderful food and good seats plus a great lounge in Istanbul.

-Pretty much all of the major asian carriers. SQ, JAL, ANA, Garuda, Cathay. Even aspects of Air China compared favorably (though it uses the Continental seat). In some cases (SQ and jokes aside, Malaysia) the service is wildly better in Y, J and F. I will never forget being in Y on a lightly-booked flight on Malaysia and being addressed by my last name the entire flight by the flight attendant. EVA distributes pijamas and serves Krug in business.

-For what they purport to be, I also have had good experiences in Y on the LCCs (AirAsia, Tiger, Jetstar). Professional crews, reasonable fares, reasonable costs for add-ons like extra seating.

-The Mideast carriers are controversial but by all means do a better job in flight in all classes (on the ground/customer service is another story).

-South African Airways has a very reasonable J product with good wines and decent seats.

Sounds like just about all the 767s and frankly most of the 738s.

I disagree. Look how much JetBlue has grown. Sure that started out as a discount airline but that's rarely the case anymore. They now even charge for bags. They raised prices and continued growing because of the better product.

Given the choice of JetBlue or United, people are picking JetBlue to the point that they now dominate Boston and had a part in pushing United out of jfk.

And again I argue this is because it is known that JetBlue offers a consistent fleet. When you buy their ticket it's not a gamble what amenities you get

Ok, tear out the overhead bins in E, and install the IPTE Y seats from 777...viola - the most comfortable plane in the whole fleet. Nothing "gorgeous" about the checkerboarded cramped as hell, no F-class 2-clsss 767, or whatever delusion Smisek is calling the 76E these days.