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, ....
Feb 4, 2019, 12:51 pm
#1534
Join Date: Oct 2016
Programs: UA Platinum, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 204
Looks like N79011 is currently on its way to EWR and then on to Houston to operate the Buenos Aires service (UA819) tomorrow evening (Tues 5 Feb). That flight showing the configuration like the others already retrofitted.
Feb 4, 2019, 3:43 pm
#1535
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
I saw that. Hopefully the next plane will head over to HKG soon to start retro. According the the fleet site, N78013 has been in HKG since 16-Jan-19, but there is no mention of a Polaris reconfig.
Feb 4, 2019, 4:16 pm
#1536
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 818
on that rotation it should also be cycling IAH-NRT-IAH some time this week too!
Feb 4, 2019, 10:00 pm
#1537
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Portland OR
Programs: United 1K 1MM, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton HHonors Gold
Posts: 560
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.
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.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...610Z/VHHH/KEWR
Feb 4, 2019, 10:23 pm
#1538
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Portland OR
Programs: United 1K 1MM, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton HHonors Gold
Posts: 560
And there are now 51 aircraft with Polaris. That's just under a third of the widebody fleet as of now,
- 18x 77W (on delivery)
- 13x 763 (retrofit)
- 16x 772 (retrofit)
- 4x 78J (on delivery)
- 5 have been delivered in the 35 days of 2019 (4x 772 retrofit and 1x 78J induction), making the current average one every seven days
- The average from that announcement (15th April 2018) to today now stands at one delivery every 10.53 days, and falling.
Feb 5, 2019, 5:08 am
#1539
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
And there are now 51 aircraft with Polaris. That's just under a third of the widebody fleet as of now,
- 18x 77W (on delivery)
- 13x 763 (retrofit)
- 16x 772 (retrofit)
- 4x 78J (on delivery)
- 5 have been delivered in the 35 days of 2019 (4x 772 retrofit and 1x 78J induction), making the current average one every seven days
- The average from that announcement (15th April 2018) to today now stands at one delivery every 10.53 days, and falling.
To add to this, I anticipate we'll see 2 or 3 763s and 2 sUA 772s over the next 30-40 days.
With the 78Xs entering international service soon, I anticipate that either the sCO 772s will pick up the pace, or the sCO 772s will sub in for the sUA 772s while they knock them out at an even faster pace.
Feb 5, 2019, 9:07 am
#1540
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,410
To add to this, I anticipate we'll see 2 or 3 763s and 2 sUA 772s over the next 30-40 days.
With the 78Xs entering international service soon, I anticipate that either the sCO 772s will pick up the pace, or the sCO 772s will sub in for the sUA 772s while they knock them out at an even faster pace.
With the 78Xs entering international service soon, I anticipate that either the sCO 772s will pick up the pace, or the sCO 772s will sub in for the sUA 772s while they knock them out at an even faster pace.
Feb 5, 2019, 9:19 am
#1541
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,450
sCO 772s (77Y) are also being converted to Polaris, though only one ship has it presently. At this rate the 77Q>77U program will be done by the end of 2019.
Feb 12, 2019, 9:04 pm
#1542
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Chicago
Posts: 17
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
I was on a retrofitted 777-200 from ORD to PEK and can confirm there's no mood lighting and no fancy bulk head wall. I wasn't even sure the overhead bins were updated. I already noticed wears and tears on the seat, so it doesn't seem like the Polaris seats will last very long. Sad. They look nice at first glance and are comfortable but do appear cheap when you start noticing the details.
Feb 12, 2019, 9:14 pm
#1543
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
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Posts: 56,453
Feb 12, 2019, 10:00 pm
#1544
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Portland OR
Programs: United 1K 1MM, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton HHonors Gold
Posts: 560
On another note, we’re back down to three mod lines at XMN right now. One of the recent Polaris 772s was ferried back to SFO instead of do a swap at HKG. And so far nothing has been ferried across. That plane was completed very quickly in 6.5 weeks so perhaps they haven’t had tome to schedule a ferry. The alternative woukd be to do a swap with an inbound to PEK or PVG or even NRT, but nothing yet.