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, ....
Apr 1, 2020, 6:02 pm
#2251
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 495
OK, trying to bring this thread back to life.
I'm surprised that UA is continuing to put new planes into MOD, particularly the 777s. Being that the travel industry won't be bouncing back very fast, shouldn't they be holding off to save current costs?
Also, since they are choosing to keep the lines going, I would have at least stopped the 777s and get the 788s ramped up. First, the seat count is very different for a fleet that is 33% complete. Second, I would think these planes will be more valuable as we get back on our feet due to lower operating costs and smaller cabins.
I'm surprised that UA is continuing to put new planes into MOD, particularly the 777s. Being that the travel industry won't be bouncing back very fast, shouldn't they be holding off to save current costs?
Also, since they are choosing to keep the lines going, I would have at least stopped the 777s and get the 788s ramped up. First, the seat count is very different for a fleet that is 33% complete. Second, I would think these planes will be more valuable as we get back on our feet due to lower operating costs and smaller cabins.
Apr 1, 2020, 6:33 pm
#2252
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OK, trying to bring this thread back to life.
I'm surprised that UA is continuing to put new planes into MOD, particularly the 777s. Being that the travel industry won't be bouncing back very fast, shouldn't they be holding off to save current costs?
Also, since they are choosing to keep the lines going, I would have at least stopped the 777s and get the 788s ramped up. First, the seat count is very different for a fleet that is 33% complete. Second, I would think these planes will be more valuable as we get back on our feet due to lower operating costs and smaller cabins.
I'm surprised that UA is continuing to put new planes into MOD, particularly the 777s. Being that the travel industry won't be bouncing back very fast, shouldn't they be holding off to save current costs?
Also, since they are choosing to keep the lines going, I would have at least stopped the 777s and get the 788s ramped up. First, the seat count is very different for a fleet that is 33% complete. Second, I would think these planes will be more valuable as we get back on our feet due to lower operating costs and smaller cabins.
Polaris seats and related parts on the 787 have different configuration and sizes, and they may face supply chain issues as factories may be in lockdown mode. Even if UA want to expedite the refit on the 787, seats and parts may not be ready.
Apr 1, 2020, 9:03 pm
#2253
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
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Posts: 1,400
It could also be supply chain issues. New seats and parts for the 777s were probably ordered well in advance based on the rollout plan published by UA over 2 years ago. These new seats and parts are likely ready and need to be installed otherwise UA may incur storage fees.
Polaris seats and related parts on the 787 have different configuration and sizes, and they may face supply chain issues as factories may be in lockdown mode. Even if UA want to expedite the refit on the 787, seats and parts may not be ready.
Polaris seats and related parts on the 787 have different configuration and sizes, and they may face supply chain issues as factories may be in lockdown mode. Even if UA want to expedite the refit on the 787, seats and parts may not be ready.
Apr 2, 2020, 8:09 am
#2255
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May 18, 2020, 6:57 am
#2257
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UA is slowly reactivating 767-300ERs over the course of the summer, so it will be interesting to see whether any non-Polaris ships are brought out of short-term storage.
May 23, 2020, 10:43 pm
#2258
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
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With only a handful of 763s (and 772s) in the Non-Polaris configuration, it would only make sense to make these the last to return to service, for the purpose of fleet consistency.
May 24, 2020, 7:30 am
#2259
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As it turns out, 1 out of 6 763s back in service (N657UA) is in the old 76C non-Polaris configuration. The rest are in the 30-seat (76A) Polaris configuration. All of the 46J 76L ships are in storage.
May 24, 2020, 7:52 am
#2260
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I certainly hope so, but other factors, especially time to heavy maintenance checks, will come into play too.
As it turns out, 1 out of 6 763s back in service (N657UA) is in the old 76C non-Polaris configuration. The rest are in the 30-seat (76A) Polaris configuration. All of the 46J 76L ships are in storage.
As it turns out, 1 out of 6 763s back in service (N657UA) is in the old 76C non-Polaris configuration. The rest are in the 30-seat (76A) Polaris configuration. All of the 46J 76L ships are in storage.
May 24, 2020, 9:08 am
#2261
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International flying with 763s will probably resume in July.
Incidentally, N643UA is back in service (flew ORD-SFO turn yesterday) and is today celebrating its 29th birthday in the UAL fleet, delivered on May 24, 1991. As it's in an all-new Polaris configuration, here's to at least a few more!!
Last edited by EWR764; May 24, 2020 at 9:14 am
May 25, 2020, 3:26 pm
#2262
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It appears that UA is ready to upgrade the aircraft with only a few day's notice if capacity calls for it.
TPG - United’s latest onboard distancing policy won’t cost the airline a cent
"There is a small silver lining here, though. United notes that the airline’s been “upgauging” 35-40 flights each day. If the Network Planning and Operations teams notice flights with higher load factors far enough in advance, they may choose to swap in larger planes, to enable more space onboard. United recommends that employees waitlist themselves for any given flight at least 48 hours in advance, to give the airline a better idea of how many flyers might be planning to travel."
TPG - United’s latest onboard distancing policy won’t cost the airline a cent
"There is a small silver lining here, though. United notes that the airline’s been “upgauging” 35-40 flights each day. If the Network Planning and Operations teams notice flights with higher load factors far enough in advance, they may choose to swap in larger planes, to enable more space onboard. United recommends that employees waitlist themselves for any given flight at least 48 hours in advance, to give the airline a better idea of how many flyers might be planning to travel."