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✨ Polaris (& PP) Retrofits: Schedule, ....

Old May 29, 17, 1:21 pm
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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, 46 86 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

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✨ Polaris (& PP) Retrofits: Schedule, ....

Old Mar 20, 17, 6:42 am
  #196  
TPJ
 
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Originally Posted by cerealmarketer

I'm guessing the UA seat decision was made before AA ran into trouble in 2015.
I really hope so... Otherwise it would be a very bad business decision to trust someone who throw a competitor under the bus.
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Old Mar 20, 17, 6:48 am
  #197  
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Originally Posted by TandroyFoty
So, will this be the actual hard product or not?
Probably, pending another swap. The last-minute swaps don't always update the type in the details but the map is accurate IIRC.
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Old Mar 20, 17, 9:45 am
  #198  
 
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Originally Posted by TandroyFoty
I didn't read every single comment in this thread, but seems like 772 isn't set for the new seats for a few months. However, the 1k agent just told me that there's been a plane swap on my flight this afternoon, and the new plane is using the Polaris hard product. I specifically asked to clarify. From the seat map, it's showing a new business configuration, but claims the plane is still 772. So, will this be the actual hard product or not?
This is just a website/system glitch; you'll be on the new 773. For whatever reason, when UA subs aircraft type, the original type is not updated even though the seat map is.
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Old Mar 20, 17, 12:51 pm
  #199  
 
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Originally Posted by FlytheTail
This is just a website/system glitch; you'll be on the new 773. For whatever reason, when UA subs aircraft type, the original type is not updated even though the seat map is.
That is amazing news. Thanks.
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Old Mar 20, 17, 1:32 pm
  #200  
 
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Originally Posted by TandroyFoty
That is amazing news. Thanks.
Amazing for those in J. Don't forget to shed a tear for those stuck in Y.
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Old Mar 20, 17, 1:48 pm
  #201  
 
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Originally Posted by JOSECONLSCREW28
Exactly. Last 747 will exit the fleet end of October this year. Likely what the FAs and pilots said on that flight was wishful thinking. Nothing has been announced internally about keeping the 747s beyond its October 2017 exit date.
So while I believe this, doesn't UA need the 77Ws to replace the 747s? If 77W deliveries are slowed/delayed, can UA stop flying the 747 and still have enough of the larger planes for the routes they fly?
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Old Mar 20, 17, 2:54 pm
  #202  
 
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Originally Posted by EWR764
What seems more reasonable to me is the rumor UA is looking to acquire some 77Ws coming off lease at a certain Gulf carrier...
If these are coming from EK, what will UA do about the seats in C? Y should not be a problem as EK is already 10 across in the back, but their 777's have 7 across seats of the sloping variety. Also, some have an F cabin as well.
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Old Mar 20, 17, 3:04 pm
  #203  
 
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Originally Posted by 1kBill
If these are coming from EK, what will UA do about the seats in C? Y should not be a problem as EK is already 10 across in the back, but their 777's have 7 across seats of the sloping variety. Also, some have an F cabin as well.
If the rumor is true, these aircraft will be getting new interiors as part of the acquisition. The former carrier's branding will be removed. UA is not like some other carriers that just take the old aircraft over from the first owner and do minor changes to the aircraft. Just look at the aircraft coming from China Southern. They are getting interiors to match the current UA Airbus product.
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Old Mar 20, 17, 3:06 pm
  #204  
 
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Originally Posted by drewguy
So while I believe this, doesn't UA need the 77Ws to replace the 747s? If 77W deliveries are slowed/delayed, can UA stop flying the 747 and still have enough of the larger planes for the routes they fly?
UA was supposed to have all 77W delivered by May and 747 retirement is slated for the end of October at the moment, so 77W delivery delays would likely need to stretch past the summer for the 747 retirement to be impacted. 77W deliveries are continuing, but the pace is slowed. I don't think UA is anticipating such a massive delay that will give the 747s a stay of execution, though that would certainly be a silver lining.
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Old Mar 20, 17, 3:32 pm
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Originally Posted by MSY-MSP
If the rumor is true, these aircraft will be getting new interiors as part of the acquisition. The former carrier's branding will be removed. UA is not like some other carriers that just take the old aircraft over from the first owner and do minor changes to the aircraft. Just look at the aircraft coming from China Southern. They are getting interiors to match the current UA Airbus product.
Which is what I would expect, except that if they are having trouble getting seats for the planes they already have, how are they going to accommodate seats when acquiring additional aircraft?
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Old Mar 20, 17, 6:58 pm
  #206  
 
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Originally Posted by EWR764
UA was supposed to have all 77W delivered by May and 747 retirement is slated for the end of October at the moment, so 77W delivery delays would likely need to stretch past the summer for the 747 retirement to be impacted. 77W deliveries are continuing, but the pace is slowed. I don't think UA is anticipating such a massive delay that will give the 747s a stay of execution, though that would certainly be a silver lining.
But they are still only receiving 14 77Ws and losing 20 747s. The 77Ws also seem to be headed for routes flown currently by 772s along with 747s (see EWR-TLV). So, the math doesn't add up.

What I am surprised about is UA acquiring used 77Ws instead of purchasing new ones. Boeing is giving such massive discounts right now.
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Old Mar 20, 17, 7:02 pm
  #207  
 
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Originally Posted by DA201
But they are still only receiving 14 77Ws and losing 20 747s. The 77Ws also seem to be headed for routes flown currently by 772s along with 747s (see EWR-TLV). So, the math doesn't add up.

What I am surprised about is UA acquiring used 77Ws instead of purchasing new ones. Boeing is giving such massive discounts right now.
Presumably the 77W will be more reliable than the 747, so less need to keep them in reserve. And they may be better able to shift planes around onto the best routes, rather than ones out of SFO, where the 747s were based to make it easier to manage the reliability issues. So, for example, switch EWR-TLV to 77W, and take the 772 used on that route for something like SFO-PVG/TPE/ICN (or whatever works better).
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Old Mar 20, 17, 7:02 pm
  #208  
 
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Originally Posted by DA201
What I am surprised about is UA acquiring used 77Ws instead of purchasing new ones. Boeing is giving such massive discounts right now.
If one wanted to be cynical, you could say they were being cheap. Levy (the new CFO) did work at Allegiant, after all...
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Old Mar 20, 17, 7:19 pm
  #209  
 
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Originally Posted by DA201
But they are still only receiving 14 77Ws and losing 20 747s. The 77Ws also seem to be headed for routes flown currently by 772s along with 747s (see EWR-TLV). So, the math doesn't add up.

What I am surprised about is UA acquiring used 77Ws instead of purchasing new ones. Boeing is giving such massive discounts right now.
For reliability, United has been running a relatively cushy 747 schedule for some time, and routinely has multiple airplanes out of service at any given time for maintenance or as operational spares. 77W, as new examples of mature technology in a well-developed, longtime program at UAL, should be able to operate the entire 747 network at equivalent or better reliability with several fewer frames.

That's one part of the equation. The other is reallocation of capacity enabled by 787-9 deliveries and displaced 777 flying.
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Old Mar 20, 17, 8:24 pm
  #210  
 
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Originally Posted by DA201
What I am surprised about is UA acquiring used 77Ws instead of purchasing new ones. Boeing is giving such massive discounts right now.
Used?
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