May 29, 2017, 1:21 pm
Last edit by: kirkwoodj
Check the current status of aircraft reconfigured (or delivered) with new Polaris seats: http://view.ceros.com/united/polaris...-desktop-4/p/3.
A Polaris Update and Polaris Mod Schedule to indicate the status of specific aircraft are maintained by those that manage the United Airlines Fleet Website.
Except for 773- and 781-operated flights, and those markets selling Premium Plus, Polaris-equipped planes have not been allocated to specific routes. You won't know until approx. 36-48 hours before departure if you'll have a newly reconfigured aircraft, and even then, it may be replaced with a non-retrofitted aircraft.
777-300ER - All 22 aircraft have Polaris (60 seats) and installation of Premium Plus cabins (24 seats) is complete.
767-300ER - As of September 2020, 31 of the 38 aircraft have been reconfigured with the Polaris seats.
- Retrofit is from 3-cabin to 2-cabin with direct-aisle-access seats. No 3-cabin 767s remain in service.
- 76A configuration is 30J/50Y+/134Y, total of 214; fleet to consist of 17 ships (former 3-cabin 767s).
- 76L configuration is 46J/22PE/47Y+/52Y; fleet to consist of 21 ships (18 former 2-cabin 76C and 3 used ships from Hawaiian).
767-400ER - [16 aircraft] None updated yet; modifications put on hold due to Covid-19.
777-200ER - As of September 2020, 46 of the 50 aircraft have been reconfigured with Polaris and Premium Plus seats.
- Configuration is 50 Polaris seats, 32 in the front cabin and 18 in the second cabin (behind 2L/R)
- Configuration is 10 across in economy, with 24 Premium Plus seats, 4686 E+ seats and 156 E seats, with E+ in front economy cabin plus exit rows and bulkhead at 3L/R, i.e., almost the same as current pmCO planes, except with 4 seats in middle section.
- Seat map (v5) on united.com
787-8, 787-9 - As of November 2022, all 787-8/9 are converted or in mod. No chance of flying old configuration anymore.
- 788 configuration has 28 Polaris seats (20 in front cabin, 8 in rear mini-cabin), and 21 Premium Plus seats (2-3-2).
- 789 configuration has 48 Polaris seats (32 in front cabin, 16 in rear mini-cabin), and 21 Premium Plus seats (2-3-2).
787-10 - 13 787-10s have been delivered in 2020. All come with Polaris and Premium Plus cabins factory-installed. Another 19 should be added by 2024.
FAQ:
Q: Does a Polaris ticket mean the aircraft has the new Polaris seat?
A: No, Polaris is the label UA uses for long haul international business class. It is also the label UA uses for the new seats, so this does create some confusion.
All the 773s and 787-10s are 100% the new seat.
The rest of the long haul fleet in various stages of conversion, see http://view.ceros.com/united/polaris...-desktop-4/p/3
Q: How to tell if my aircraft is the new style Polaris seats?
A: If the unassigned business class section is showing orange seats or all the seats are side-by-side or there is a section for 4 adjacent seats in the middle, this is an old style lie-flat aircreaft
If the unassigned bussines class seats are dark blue seats or the all the seats appear to have direct aisle access, then you aircraft is the new Polaris seat.
You can also look at the FT maintained, United Fleet Site and crosscheck the tail number or check thePolaris Update tab
Q: How to tell if my aircraft has the new PremiumPlus (PP) / Premium Economy seats?
A: If the unassigned seats just behind business class are purple seats or the aircraft is 773 or 787-10, then yes. However, the purple color seat will only show on routes where PP is being sold.
Aircraft with PP seats are being used on some routes but are not being sold as PP. In those cases, the seats are considered to be a part of E+. In those cases, an indicator of PP sold as E+ will be if the first few rows of economy, there are just 2 seats on the sides (with the rest of E+ showing 3 seats).
Q: Will the aircraft I see at booking be the same configuration at flight time?
A: Unfortunately with the fleet in transit, aircraft swaps happen. UA tends to use placeholders until 2 days before travel and even after that last minute swaps do happen.
Q: My flight seat map shows 772 with polaris seats is it a retrofit?
A: Possibly. The flight status page shows the most accurate scheduled aircraft. If a 77W is swapped in, it will list the aircraft as 777-300ER. However, if the 772's seatmap shows blue rectangular boxes in the business class cabin instead of orange "pointy rounds", this would indicate that a retrofit aircraft has been swapped.
See also: United Future/Changed Routes w/ Polaris seats
A Polaris Update and Polaris Mod Schedule to indicate the status of specific aircraft are maintained by those that manage the United Airlines Fleet Website.
Except for 773- and 781-operated flights, and those markets selling Premium Plus, Polaris-equipped planes have not been allocated to specific routes. You won't know until approx. 36-48 hours before departure if you'll have a newly reconfigured aircraft, and even then, it may be replaced with a non-retrofitted aircraft.
777-300ER - All 22 aircraft have Polaris (60 seats) and installation of Premium Plus cabins (24 seats) is complete.
767-300ER - As of September 2020, 31 of the 38 aircraft have been reconfigured with the Polaris seats.
- Retrofit is from 3-cabin to 2-cabin with direct-aisle-access seats. No 3-cabin 767s remain in service.
- 76A configuration is 30J/50Y+/134Y, total of 214; fleet to consist of 17 ships (former 3-cabin 767s).
- 76L configuration is 46J/22PE/47Y+/52Y; fleet to consist of 21 ships (18 former 2-cabin 76C and 3 used ships from Hawaiian).
767-400ER - [16 aircraft] None updated yet; modifications put on hold due to Covid-19.
777-200ER - As of September 2020, 46 of the 50 aircraft have been reconfigured with Polaris and Premium Plus seats.
- Configuration is 50 Polaris seats, 32 in the front cabin and 18 in the second cabin (behind 2L/R)
- Configuration is 10 across in economy, with 24 Premium Plus seats, 46
- Seat map (v5) on united.com
787-8, 787-9 - As of November 2022, all 787-8/9 are converted or in mod. No chance of flying old configuration anymore.
- 788 configuration has 28 Polaris seats (20 in front cabin, 8 in rear mini-cabin), and 21 Premium Plus seats (2-3-2).
- 789 configuration has 48 Polaris seats (32 in front cabin, 16 in rear mini-cabin), and 21 Premium Plus seats (2-3-2).
787-10 - 13 787-10s have been delivered in 2020. All come with Polaris and Premium Plus cabins factory-installed. Another 19 should be added by 2024.
FAQ:
Q: Does a Polaris ticket mean the aircraft has the new Polaris seat?
A: No, Polaris is the label UA uses for long haul international business class. It is also the label UA uses for the new seats, so this does create some confusion.
All the 773s and 787-10s are 100% the new seat.
The rest of the long haul fleet in various stages of conversion, see http://view.ceros.com/united/polaris...-desktop-4/p/3
Q: How to tell if my aircraft is the new style Polaris seats?
A: If the unassigned business class section is showing orange seats or all the seats are side-by-side or there is a section for 4 adjacent seats in the middle, this is an old style lie-flat aircreaft
If the unassigned bussines class seats are dark blue seats or the all the seats appear to have direct aisle access, then you aircraft is the new Polaris seat.
You can also look at the FT maintained, United Fleet Site and crosscheck the tail number or check thePolaris Update tab
Q: How to tell if my aircraft has the new PremiumPlus (PP) / Premium Economy seats?
A: If the unassigned seats just behind business class are purple seats or the aircraft is 773 or 787-10, then yes. However, the purple color seat will only show on routes where PP is being sold.
Aircraft with PP seats are being used on some routes but are not being sold as PP. In those cases, the seats are considered to be a part of E+. In those cases, an indicator of PP sold as E+ will be if the first few rows of economy, there are just 2 seats on the sides (with the rest of E+ showing 3 seats).
Q: Will the aircraft I see at booking be the same configuration at flight time?
A: Unfortunately with the fleet in transit, aircraft swaps happen. UA tends to use placeholders until 2 days before travel and even after that last minute swaps do happen.
Q: My flight seat map shows 772 with polaris seats is it a retrofit?
A: Possibly. The flight status page shows the most accurate scheduled aircraft. If a 77W is swapped in, it will list the aircraft as 777-300ER. However, if the 772's seatmap shows blue rectangular boxes in the business class cabin instead of orange "pointy rounds", this would indicate that a retrofit aircraft has been swapped.
See also: United Future/Changed Routes w/ Polaris seats
✨ Polaris (& PP) Retrofits: Schedule, ....
Jan 16, 2019, 8:48 pm
#1516
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Portland OR
Programs: United 1K 1MM, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton HHonors Gold
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And assuming 4 lines (4 Polaris/P+ ships exited XMN between mid December and 1st Jan) at 8 weeks per mod the remaining 20 could be completed by October. The question then arises as to how many lines are assigned to the 787s and how many to the pmCO 772s. With the new delivery 789s arriving in 2020, if the first 4 arrive early then that provides slack in the 789 fleet to accelerate the mods. If not they may need to proceed slowly. In any case, the first 787 entering mod in Q4 can mean any day up until 31st December.
Jan 17, 2019, 4:17 am
#1517
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
From the announcement by Krolick:
"The refit will also introduce United's new Premium Plus premium economy cabin, although Krolick didn't expect this would alter the number of business class seats on the updated Dreamliners.
"That typically impacts economy seating more than it does business class seating, so I don't think the business class seat counts change much," he said."
Also good news
Source: United's Boeing 787s to get a Polaris business class upgrade this year
"The refit will also introduce United's new Premium Plus premium economy cabin, although Krolick didn't expect this would alter the number of business class seats on the updated Dreamliners.
"That typically impacts economy seating more than it does business class seating, so I don't think the business class seat counts change much," he said."
Also good news
Source: United's Boeing 787s to get a Polaris business class upgrade this year
Jan 17, 2019, 7:51 pm
#1519
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Jan 18, 2019, 1:21 pm
#1520
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
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As far as I know, UA is still hesitant to commit many of the 772s to a dedicated Polaris / P+ route. I think there is one TPAC route that they ar being commited to (SFO-PEK maybe). It’s definitely easier now to do such, but I think UA wants more conversions complete before they start to guarantee any. Remember, it’s not only about P+ being downgraded, but it’s also about 21 people being IDB.
The High J 763 poses a challange to impliment because there is no other aircraft that it can be subed for. It MIGHT be able to replace a 752, but there would be a lot of upgrades.
The High J 763 poses a challange to impliment because there is no other aircraft that it can be subed for. It MIGHT be able to replace a 752, but there would be a lot of upgrades.
Jan 18, 2019, 8:53 pm
#1522
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Location: Delaware
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Jan 18, 2019, 11:14 pm
#1523
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Portland OR
Programs: United 1K 1MM, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton HHonors Gold
Posts: 560
Jan 30, 2019, 11:13 am
#1525
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: Marriott Platinum Elite, National Executive, United Gold
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I think these aircraft will be based out of EWR (possibly ORD) and be exclusively dedicated to LHR, GVA and ZRH. And I guess they'll keep one or two on reserve at EWR/ORD if one goes tech.
Yeah they’ll have to commit to High J routes as soon as they know when there will be a critical mass of ships. I predict bedding in flights on PS routes and perhaps a 752 TATL to major cities. IIRC there’s still a 752 device to LHR from IAD(?) so that could be an early route.
Jan 30, 2019, 6:44 pm
#1526
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Jan 30, 2019, 11:50 pm
#1527
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Location: Delaware
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Not having been on one I can not confirm, but I believe they did total gut jobs and pretty much rebuilt the inside of the cabins from scratch. I can't see them not installing the mood lighting on what is still a shiny new product.
Jan 31, 2019, 11:45 am
#1528
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: Marriott Platinum Elite, National Executive, United Gold
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Based on the pictures I found via Google, it doesn't look like the retrofitted 772s have the new mood lighting but appear to have refreshed cabin interiors. The aircraft were delivered with the roomier bins so I don't think UA replaced those.
New product but it's amazing that the 763s and 772s going through the retrofit process are 20+ years old and some are pushing 30!
Jan 31, 2019, 5:33 pm
#1529
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: AA PLT the rest, Kettle Power
Posts: 667
My initial google search yielded the same result - I can't find a pic of a 772 with mood lighting, and can't quite tell if it even has the bulkhead Polaris blue wall found on the 773. Though I've heard that sometimes on the 773 they don't use the mood lighting so its hard to tell if pics online of the 772 the lighting is off or not installed.
With 14/15 ships now retrofit, I'm surprised no one has commented here with direct experience after flying one or hasn't commented on the lack of a full interior refit?
Maybe that's just me - seems like a missed opportunity for UA
With 14/15 ships now retrofit, I'm surprised no one has commented here with direct experience after flying one or hasn't commented on the lack of a full interior refit?
Maybe that's just me - seems like a missed opportunity for UA
Feb 3, 2019, 6:42 am
#1530
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Location: Delaware
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First sCO 772 with Polaris Seating in service!!!
READ TO THE END - THIS MAY NOT BE CORRECT!!!!!!
Well, the evidence isn't solid, but I believe the first CO 772, N79011 (3011), has been reconfigured and is back in revenue service.
Looking at FlightAware, while the return from HKG was cancelled, some how the plane is back in the states and is showing in revenue service.
OK, so FlightAware is known for having glitches. But wait!!! According to .bomb, 3011 is showing on the 1730 departure today EWR-IAH
Taking this even farther, I did a comparison of the seat maps to sUA 2786, and they are an exact match.
So we can confirm that the sUA and sCO 772s will be identical as far as seating configuration.
Given that, and the fact that all of the crews are mixed mettle certified, are there any differences between the two other than the engines and the range?
UPDATE:
I looked at the "WHERE IS THIS AIRCRAFT COMING FROM" and it's showing currently on UA180 HKG-EWR. One problem though, UA180 is showing with the old configuration and aircraft 3001, not 3011.
While I'm suspecting that someone made a mistype when they entered the aircraft number into the system, it remains true that AIrcraft 3011 is linked to a Polaris seatmap that is identical to the sUA aircraft.
While the plane may still be in HKG, It is quite possible that the configurations are identical.
Well, the evidence isn't solid, but I believe the first CO 772, N79011 (3011), has been reconfigured and is back in revenue service.
Looking at FlightAware, while the return from HKG was cancelled, some how the plane is back in the states and is showing in revenue service.
OK, so FlightAware is known for having glitches. But wait!!! According to .bomb, 3011 is showing on the 1730 departure today EWR-IAH
Taking this even farther, I did a comparison of the seat maps to sUA 2786, and they are an exact match.
Given that, and the fact that all of the crews are mixed mettle certified, are there any differences between the two other than the engines and the range?
UPDATE:
I looked at the "WHERE IS THIS AIRCRAFT COMING FROM" and it's showing currently on UA180 HKG-EWR. One problem though, UA180 is showing with the old configuration and aircraft 3001, not 3011.
While I'm suspecting that someone made a mistype when they entered the aircraft number into the system, it remains true that AIrcraft 3011 is linked to a Polaris seatmap that is identical to the sUA aircraft.
While the plane may still be in HKG, It is quite possible that the configurations are identical.
Last edited by phkc070408; Feb 3, 2019 at 6:55 am Reason: Update - More Research