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, ....
Mar 21, 2017, 4:51 am
#213
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,581
Mar 21, 2017, 8:38 am
#214
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: Marriott Platinum Elite, National Executive, United Gold
Posts: 1,181
Anyone care to speculate whether the 744 retirement may be delayed to facilitate the delay in the 772 Polaris retrofits? Probably not with the Zodiac issues but if oil continues to be at or below $50/bbl and if Mr. Munoz and Kirby are serious about rolling out Polaris...
Mar 21, 2017, 8:39 am
#215
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,418
Anyone care to speculate whether the 744 retirement may be delayed to facilitate the delay in the 772 Polaris retrofits? Probably not with the Zodiac issues but if oil continues to be at or below $50/bbl and if Mr. Munoz and Kirby are serious about rolling out Polaris...
Mar 21, 2017, 9:13 am
#216
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: DFW
Programs: UA peon (+decades 1K), AA Exec Plt
Posts: 1,117
Smart.
Purchase at less than a tenth of the price (a la Delta's Anderson comments re used 772s) with more than 2/3 of lifetime left. Be able to buy a lot more coffee cups.
Any current guestament for total number of 77Ws in the near pipeline?
Purchase at less than a tenth of the price (a la Delta's Anderson comments re used 772s) with more than 2/3 of lifetime left. Be able to buy a lot more coffee cups.
Any current guestament for total number of 77Ws in the near pipeline?
Mar 21, 2017, 9:22 am
#217
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: NYC: UA 1K, DL Platinum, AAirpass, Avis PC
Posts: 4,599
This is how another employee interprets that info:
http://www.airliners.net/forum/viewt...=300#p19424845
"There are three 77Ws 'Ready for Delivery' at PAE. Meaning they are seat ready as well. At least one is definitely waiting on seats, another is 'preflight prep' and may or may not be short seats. Two more are FAL."
Mar 21, 2017, 9:29 am
#218
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: DFW
Programs: UA peon (+decades 1K), AA Exec Plt
Posts: 1,117
There's nothing on the United fleet site google doc that says 'waiting for seats' - for the March plans it shows 3 'ready for delivery' - 1 in 'B1' - 1 in 'preflight prep'.
This is how another employee interprets that info:
http://www.airliners.net/forum/viewt...=300#p19424845
"There are three 77Ws 'Ready for Delivery' at PAE. Meaning they are seat ready as well. At least one is definitely waiting on seats, another is 'preflight prep' and may or may not be short seats. Two more are FAL."
This is how another employee interprets that info:
http://www.airliners.net/forum/viewt...=300#p19424845
"There are three 77Ws 'Ready for Delivery' at PAE. Meaning they are seat ready as well. At least one is definitely waiting on seats, another is 'preflight prep' and may or may not be short seats. Two more are FAL."
"
Mar 21, 2017, 10:11 am
#220
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,418
If the cabin and livery is new, is there any easy way for pax to determine a plane isn't that new after all? I mean, is there a "new plane smell" that I've never had the pleasure of?
Mar 21, 2017, 11:05 am
#221
Join Date: May 2015
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Posts: 1,006
Mar 21, 2017, 1:17 pm
#222
Join Date: Sep 2015
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Posts: 875
No, but it's less fuel efficient than newer aircraft of the same model. So when fuel prices increase and UA starts whining...
Mar 27, 2017, 6:31 am
#223
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: DL PM, MR Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
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VFTW is reporting via @woody2190 that at least 2 of UA's 77Ws have been mothballed due to lack of seats.
On my phone and don't have time to grab link but that's not a good sign.
On my phone and don't have time to grab link but that's not a good sign.
Mar 27, 2017, 6:43 am
#224
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: Marriott Platinum Elite, National Executive, United Gold
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Seems like Zodiac is screwing both Boeing and United with their production issues; Boeing because I'm sure they would love to slow down 777 production as much as they can to bridge the gap to the 777X.
Mar 27, 2017, 7:06 am
#225
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Half of UA's 77W order is either in service or ready for delivery with seats, and it's not even April. The Zodiac delays have a long way to go to impact 747 retirement, and United is clearly taking a very conservative approach in rolling out the fleet on international routes, with only SFO-HKG/NRT and EWR-TLV in the schedule.
The more unfortunate thing in my mind is that the Zodiac delays will no doubt negatively impact the retrofit schedule. The new builds will obviously be prioritized.