May 29, 17, 2:21 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, ....
May 5, 22, 2:48 pm
#2627
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: MSP
Posts: 217
Sure enough, 45956 is on SFO-SIN tomorrow. So ridiculous.
I'm flying UA1 SFO-SIN solo in J, in two weeks. The fact that I have to worry about having to do that 17 hours in old config is absurd. The longest flight in the network, only running 3 or 4 days a week, and they can't protect it? Look, I get it - first world problems and it's a stupid seat on a plane. But it was part of the reason I booked with UA for this trip. Had I known there was uncertainty, I would have booked with SQ. MX happens. Weather happens. etc. But you can't convince me United cares about brand or customers when they leave every 789 passenger across their network guessing on what product will be delivered. It's not even like you could re-route, as 4 flights a week in total nothing to change to.
I'm flying UA1 SFO-SIN solo in J, in two weeks. The fact that I have to worry about having to do that 17 hours in old config is absurd. The longest flight in the network, only running 3 or 4 days a week, and they can't protect it? Look, I get it - first world problems and it's a stupid seat on a plane. But it was part of the reason I booked with UA for this trip. Had I known there was uncertainty, I would have booked with SQ. MX happens. Weather happens. etc. But you can't convince me United cares about brand or customers when they leave every 789 passenger across their network guessing on what product will be delivered. It's not even like you could re-route, as 4 flights a week in total nothing to change to.
May 5, 22, 2:57 pm
#2628
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2003
Programs: UA 1K 1MM (finally!), IHG AMB-Spire, HH Diamond
Posts: 59,068
Originally Posted by phranticaw
Sure enough, 45956 is on SFO-SIN tomorrow. So ridiculous.
I'm flying UA1 SFO-SIN solo in J, in two weeks. The fact that I have to worry about having to do that 17 hours in old config is absurd. The longest flight in the network, only running 3 or 4 days a week, and they can't protect it? Look, I get it - first world problems and it's a stupid seat on a plane. But it was part of the reason I booked with UA for this trip. Had I known there was uncertainty, I would have booked with SQ. MX happens. Weather happens. etc. But you can't convince me United cares about brand or customers when they leave every 789 passenger across their network guessing on what product will be delivered. It's not even like you could re-route, as 4 flights a week in total nothing to change to.
I'm flying UA1 SFO-SIN solo in J, in two weeks. The fact that I have to worry about having to do that 17 hours in old config is absurd. The longest flight in the network, only running 3 or 4 days a week, and they can't protect it? Look, I get it - first world problems and it's a stupid seat on a plane. But it was part of the reason I booked with UA for this trip. Had I known there was uncertainty, I would have booked with SQ. MX happens. Weather happens. etc. But you can't convince me United cares about brand or customers when they leave every 789 passenger across their network guessing on what product will be delivered. It's not even like you could re-route, as 4 flights a week in total nothing to change to.
May 5, 22, 4:24 pm
#2629
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 4,366
Twice in nine days (on a non-daily route) is terrible. Don't forget that PP pax get hosed too, as they get downgraded to E+.
Has anyone found out why they've not brought in any of the remaining four 789s into XMN for retrofit? There is at least one mod/maint line open right now, with ship 3907 (a 788) in for heavy MX and only ship 3973 in for retrofit.
Has anyone found out why they've not brought in any of the remaining four 789s into XMN for retrofit? There is at least one mod/maint line open right now, with ship 3907 (a 788) in for heavy MX and only ship 3973 in for retrofit.
May 6, 22, 12:50 am
#2630
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: TOA
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott LTPP/Platinum Premier, Hyatt Lame-ist, UA !K
Posts: 16,643
Originally Posted by dkc192
Twice in nine days (on a non-daily route) is terrible. Don't forget that PP pax get hosed too, as they get downgraded to E+.
Has anyone found out why they've not brought in any of the remaining four 789s into XMN for retrofit? There is at least one mod/maint line open right now, with ship 3907 (a 788) in for heavy MX and only ship 3973 in for retrofit.
Has anyone found out why they've not brought in any of the remaining four 789s into XMN for retrofit? There is at least one mod/maint line open right now, with ship 3907 (a 788) in for heavy MX and only ship 3973 in for retrofit.
David
May 6, 22, 4:46 am
#2631
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: BOS<>NYC<>BKK
Programs: UA 4.2MM LT-GS; AA1MM; Amtrak SE; MAR LT TITAN; PC Plat; HIL DIA; HYA GLOB
Posts: 4,199
Originally Posted by dkc192
Twice in nine days (on a non-daily route) is terrible. Don't forget that PP pax get hosed too, as they get downgraded to E+.
Has anyone found out why they've not brought in any of the remaining four 789s into XMN for retrofit? There is at least one mod/maint line open right now, with ship 3907 (a 788) in for heavy MX and only ship 3973 in for retrofit.
Has anyone found out why they've not brought in any of the remaining four 789s into XMN for retrofit? There is at least one mod/maint line open right now, with ship 3907 (a 788) in for heavy MX and only ship 3973 in for retrofit.
May 6, 22, 2:07 pm
#2632
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,270
Originally Posted by wxguy
It could also be that the continued delay of 777-200HD reintroduction means they need all of the ships they can get to meet anticipated schedule needs. Don't forget, some of the 789s already converted may be scheduled for other maintenance and unavailable, and the 789 is the only type that can fly some of the ultra-longhaul routes. So UA could be proactively keeping the Diamond seat 789s available until they see enough slack in the system to schedule them for mods.
Originally Posted by EWR764
. ... Right now, demand in all markets save for Asia is screaming back, and United was planning to be reintroducing its PW 777s by now. It hasn't been able to do so, and the 777/787 fleet is consequently stretched very thin. I understand Polaris mods for the last 4 789s are being temporarily held (we are talking weeks, not months) to enable UA to fly its schedule until the PW 772s reenter service. This also factors into the delayed launch of 764 Polaris mods and Premium Plus adds to the 76A fleet (that was also due to be underway by now)...
I'm just hoping they're able to get a few more in before our trip in Mid-July. I don't mind an equipment swap itself, since I agree the Diamond seat it pretty nice, however it's the seat assignment lottery that comes with an equipment swap that is inconvenient.
May 6, 22, 4:16 pm
#2633
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2003
Programs: UA 1K 1MM (finally!), IHG AMB-Spire, HH Diamond
Posts: 59,068
The main reasoning is UA prioritized the wrong planes for early refit. This begins with Smisek and ends with Kirby.
Now we have to hope we dont see ghetto 789s on 17 hour trips. Unconscionable.
Now we have to hope we dont see ghetto 789s on 17 hour trips. Unconscionable.
May 6, 22, 5:30 pm
#2635
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 249
I'm sure UA had also thought Boeing could have figured {this} out by now and gotten 78X deliveries to resume to give them more slack elsewhere. It looks to me that the focus is getting the 772s back into revenue service to buy that slack now instead, rather than cosmetic upgrades.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; May 6, 22 at 6:02 pm Reason: Using symbols, spaces or other methods to mask vulgarities is not allowed.
May 6, 22, 5:36 pm
#2636
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: TOA
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott LTPP/Platinum Premier, Hyatt Lame-ist, UA !K
Posts: 16,643
Originally Posted by Cris
I'm sure UA had also thought Boeing could have figured {this} out by now and gotten 78X deliveries to resume to give them more slack elsewhere. It looks to me that the focus is getting the 772s back into revenue service to buy that slack now instead, rather than cosmetic upgrades.
David
Last edited by WineCountryUA; May 6, 22 at 6:04 pm Reason: Quote updated with Moderator edit
May 6, 22, 10:30 pm
#2637
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,270
Originally Posted by DELee
Not sure what the 772 returns to service have to do with Polaris seat retrofits on 787s and 767s.
David
David
Originally Posted by DELee
But what is "cosmetic" about installing Polaris seats?
David
David
May 7, 22, 3:01 pm
#2639
Moderator: United Airlines; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.85MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 61,980
Originally Posted by UAFAM
I dont get it why UA permanently retired those 28J 752s early in the pandemic, those used to fly to Europe and could help right now.
May 7, 22, 3:28 pm
#2640
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 8,846
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
UA kept the ERs, the 28J were not ETOPS and were not used to Europe. They could have helped domestically but had a major AD costs
Pre-merger UA never flew the 757s to EU in regular service. Only a few of the 75K fleet had ETOPS, and I dont think any of them were certified to fly in RVSM airspace (all of Europe).
The problem right now is not narrowbody capacity, though UA could use all it can get, with the pilots to fly them. The problem is a lack of large, long haul widebodies.
