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

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Old May 29, 2017, 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, ....

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Old May 29, 2017, 3:40 pm
  #301  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
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I will be happy if my current 3-class 763 on EWR-HAM in August manages to be one of these birds (would much rather be in one of these than in the IPTE J seat). Glad to see retrofits overall (allegedly) starting to happen.
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Old May 29, 2017, 10:11 pm
  #302  
 
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Originally Posted by mduell
Could be 2 sets of outer seats (i.e. both sides of a row) get moved to E+ pitch, while a set of 3 center seats gets moved to E- pitch.
It actually would make sense if more AB JK seats were E+ and more DEF were E-, it makes a better sell to not have as many middle seats in E+ in addition there can be additional revenue from having less AB JK seats available for free, as couples typically grab these seats first
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Old May 29, 2017, 11:10 pm
  #303  
 
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So good news on the 763 but i still don't see how 30 j seats in a 1-1-1 config fit in the current footprint...is e+ being reduced from 35" to 34" or is e- being reduced to 30"?
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Old May 29, 2017, 11:42 pm
  #304  
 
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Originally Posted by Halo117
So good news on the 763 but i still don't see how 30 j seats in a 1-1-1 config fit in the current footprint...is e+ being reduced from 35" to 34" or is e- being reduced to 30"?
It's most likely really 2-2-2 just like the current IPTE, except each pair is yin-yang rather than side-by-side. 5 rows of 6 equals 30.
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Old May 29, 2017, 11:55 pm
  #305  
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Originally Posted by JAaronT
It's most likely really 2-2-2 just like the current IPTE, except each pair is yin-yang rather than side-by-side. 5 rows of 6 equals 30.
I suspect it will look like 1-1-1 on the seat map, but density will be equivalent to the sCO 2-1-2. Thus 30 seats in the same space in both configurations.

Just as with the 77W, the inside window seats should be great for solo travelers. Options for couples (who are still speaking to each other) will likely be less great.
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Old May 30, 2017, 12:24 am
  #306  
 
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Originally Posted by Kmxu
Daniel Clucas, senior designer at Acumen Design Associates, which designed the seats, says Polaris will be arranged in a one-one-one configuration on the 767s and the same one-two-one configuration on the 777-200s as it is on the 777-300ERs.

Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...ris-re-434124/
Originally Posted by JAaronT
It's most likely really 2-2-2 just like the current IPTE, except each pair is yin-yang rather than side-by-side. 5 rows of 6 equals 30.
I wonder if this means that the center section is identical to one of the outer sections - implying seat entrances on one side only with alternating straight and slightly angled seats.

If so, then one side of the aircraft will feel particularly private, similar to some 1-1-1 herringbone layouts.
cricketer is offline  
Old May 30, 2017, 12:41 am
  #307  
 
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So one 763 is going to get Polaris seats? That and a handful of 773?

Is that it?

All Global First and Business First seats are being changed, right? So what percentage of seats in the system have been changed?

This thread is about all aircraft, right? The percentage is the number I'd like to see. Broke down by aircraft type as a subgroup.
PushingTin is offline  
Old May 30, 2017, 4:13 am
  #308  
 
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Originally Posted by PushingTin
So one 763 is going to get Polaris seats? That and a handful of 773?

Is that it?

All Global First and Business First seats are being changed, right? So what percentage of seats in the system have been changed?

This thread is about all aircraft, right? The percentage is the number I'd like to see. Broke down by aircraft type as a subgroup.
This is the first one to be announced for a retrofit. All of the new 77Ws are being delivered with Polaris seats in J.
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Old May 30, 2017, 7:33 am
  #309  
 
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Originally Posted by JOSECONLSCREW28
763 A/C #6444 is getting polaris seating. Configuration will be 30J/50Y+/134Y 214 total. Due out middle of July.
Hooray! Glad to hear that UA is investing in the 763's. That means they'll be around for quite a few more years.
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Old May 30, 2017, 7:37 am
  #310  
 
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Not all 763s

Only a handful of 763s (14 to be exact) will be polarisized. The remaining 763s (21 to be exact) have the sCO BF seats.
Kmxu is offline  
Old May 30, 2017, 9:40 am
  #311  
 
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Originally Posted by Kmxu
Only a handful of 763s (14 to be exact) will be polarisized. The remaining 763s (21 to be exact) have the sCO BF seats.
Are those the 763s with 6/26/71/80? They need the new seat more than the 30/49/135 birds because of the 2-2-2 business.
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Old May 30, 2017, 9:43 am
  #312  
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Originally Posted by DA201
Are those the 763s with 6/26/71/80? They need the new seat more than the 30/49/135 birds because of the 2-2-2 business.
UA is keeping the 3-class 763s which it had previously planned to retire while at the same time eliminating GF. That's why these aircraft are going to Polaris.
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Old May 30, 2017, 9:55 am
  #313  
 
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Originally Posted by PsiFighter37
I will be happy if my current 3-class 763 on EWR-HAM in August manages to be one of these birds (would much rather be in one of these than in the IPTE J seat). Glad to see retrofits overall (allegedly) starting to happen.
My guess is that UA will use these on EWR-LHR and ORD-LHR, since they already use the 763s on these routes.
CappuccinoAddict is offline  
Old May 30, 2017, 11:10 am
  #314  
 
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Is there a formal announcement from UA about the status of the upgrades to the fleet? The lack of clarity is not only typical of United but also dubious about the speed that the upgrades will be happening.
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Old May 30, 2017, 11:15 am
  #315  
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Originally Posted by CappuccinoAddict
My guess is that UA will use these on EWR-LHR and ORD-LHR, since they already use the 763s on these routes.
I was hoping more for EWR-TXL and EWR - HAM as the 763 flies these routes, too!

Originally Posted by uber1K_Flyer
Is there a formal announcement from UA about the status of the upgrades to the fleet? The lack of clarity is not only typical of United but also dubious about the speed that the upgrades will be happening.
There is no formal announcement that I know of. Take a look at the article quoted on post #84 for info: 777ER delivered by mid year (probably delayed), 763 conversion starts in April (now May) and conversion of the first 772 starts in the fourth quarter with a planned return to service in the first quarter of 2018.

Last edited by WineCountryUA; May 30, 2017 at 12:46 pm Reason: merging consecutive posts by same member
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