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, ....
Dec 12, 2019, 6:32 pm
#2056
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AA flies up to three daily widebodies with a 1-2-1 configuration from DFW.
Dec 12, 2019, 6:35 pm
#2057
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Anyone know which 763s that aren't going full-on Polaris are being kept around and/or retired? There are a few early models that have new 2-class interiors but no winglets. Based on the wiki page, I think that affects N652UA to N656UA but I'm not sure. All variants of the 763 seem adequate for long-term use at this point, IMHO.
And that's some really good news. Those AVOD systems on the sCO 777 fleet are well used and are now used on ORD-Asia routes in place of the 744. If you've seen recent photos, the AVOD systems are over 10 years of age and the Y seating pattern is still in the CO blue colors flying some of the longest routes in the system. IMHO, they should've been done first ahead of the 3-Class 777s. They seem really beat up (despite low cycle use.)
Earlier today N69020, a pmCO 772, left HKG for IAH in the new Polaris config, and shows as operating UA46 IAH-FRA tonight. It was initially showing P+ as a separate cabin, but that glitch seems to have been restored, with rows 20-22 now showing as E+ and mostly occupied.
Of the 22 pmCO 772s, 9 have been retrofitted, 2 are in retrofit and almost due out (with a 3rd one likely due in soon now that this aircraft just finished), and 11 are still in the old configuration.
Of the 22 pmCO 772s, 9 have been retrofitted, 2 are in retrofit and almost due out (with a 3rd one likely due in soon now that this aircraft just finished), and 11 are still in the old configuration.
Last edited by LAX_AUS_DL_FLYER; Dec 12, 2019 at 6:42 pm
Dec 12, 2019, 7:08 pm
#2058
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Those AVOD systems on the sCO 777 fleet are well used and are now used on ORD-Asia routes in place of the 744. If you've seen recent photos, the AVOD systems are over 10 years of age and the Y seating pattern is still in the CO blue colors flying some of the longest routes in the system. IMHO, they should've been done first ahead of the 3-Class 777s. They seem really beat up (despite low cycle use.)
Dec 12, 2019, 8:47 pm
#2059
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I think these seat maps were already leaked. As for less Y+...wouldn't be that surprised. UA has always had more Y+ seating, but I would not be surprised if they had not been able to monetize it as successfully as they had hoped (especially on domestic flights).
Dec 12, 2019, 10:30 pm
#2060
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I suppose we should probably save outrage over reported reduction in E+ seats, E- pitch, and lavs until we have official seat maps.
Dec 13, 2019, 4:39 am
#2061
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Dec 13, 2019, 5:58 am
#2062
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I think the seat numbers are right, including the randomly-located E+ seats, but the location of cabin monuments is giving me pause, especially to the extent the 788 seat maps differ.
Dec 13, 2019, 9:53 am
#2063
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United Fleetsite
UA's first priority (and rightly, I would say) was getting the 2-4-2 off the international routes. It was not even close to a competitive product.
UA's first priority (and rightly, I would say) was getting the 2-4-2 off the international routes. It was not even close to a competitive product.
Dec 13, 2019, 10:10 am
#2064
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You're talking about the passenger's perspective. That was not a consideration. UA already knew they couldn't sell F, so that was just wasted real estate. And it's UA management's belief that price trumps comfort for purposes of selling Y. But they definitely knew that they were losing paid premium traffic due to an outdated, unpopular J product.
Dec 13, 2019, 10:52 am
#2065
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I would agree, but realistically, this was only for the 7-8 GS able to request it in advance, or 'power users' quick/aware enough to select one at check-in. I understand flights operating with IPTE business class cabins tend to score among the lowest in the system (compared to other types) in customer satisfaction metrics, and declining each year.
Dec 13, 2019, 10:55 am
#2066
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It looks like something in the rendering converted two lavs at 3L/R to a galley. Why would they need a mid-cabin galley though?
Dec 13, 2019, 11:29 am
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With the modified Polaris service and smaller cabin, it doesn’t seem like UA needs so many cart positions for J, especially if the 788 is redeployed to shorter flights. We shall see, but I think it’s apparent that there will be 4 lavs in Y rather than 2...
Dec 21, 2019, 9:13 am
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Dec 21, 2019, 9:13 am
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Which makes it ZRH-EWR on 76L as of next week, and ZRH-IAD/ORD from 29th March. ZRH-SFO, which seems to be summer only anyway, is the odd one out with a 788 or 789 (no PP being sold, at least on the dates I checked - which makes sense since they won't all be retrofitted by then).