Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > United Airlines | MileagePlus
Reload this Page >

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

Old May 29, 2017, 1:21 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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

Print Wikipost

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

Old Sep 28, 2017, 5:28 am
  #526  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Programs: UA Platinum, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 869
Originally Posted by phkc070408
Considering my first trip in a 787 won't be for another 6-7 years (Australia on a 789), this works out well. 15 hours each way on a Polaris Cabin would be a nice treat for someone who doesn't fly in J often.

I am also hoping to see a Polaris Cabin on an EWR-FCO/CDG open Jaw trip in 4 years, but we'll see. A lot can happen and change over the next couple of years.
did you mean to say months? If not, my goodness, you plan your travel far in advance! There's no way to know what aircraft will be flowing those routes that far from now. But I would hope by then the whole fleet will have the new J seats.
CappuccinoAddict is offline  
Old Sep 28, 2017, 9:15 am
  #527  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 841
Originally Posted by CappuccinoAddict
did you mean to say months? If not, my goodness, you plan your travel far in advance! There's no way to know what aircraft will be flowing those routes that far from now. But I would hope by then the whole fleet will have the new J seats.
I assume he meant years, as there won't be any 787s flying with a Polaris cabin in 6-7 months. But yes, that is quite some advance planning.
rmadisonwi is offline  
Old Sep 29, 2017, 2:38 pm
  #528  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Houston TX
Programs: United Premier 1k, Hertz Presidents Circle, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 408
Originally Posted by kevanyalowitz
I do the opposite and go out of my way to fly the sUA 772s because they have GF! @:-)
Yes, GF is very nice, business not so much. First world problems though when you complain about business class seats on transatlantic flights
gallopingsheep9 likes this.
mike2003242 is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 12:00 am
  #529  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHS
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Amabassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,589
How many pUA 3 class 772's are there? 33 maybe??

Am I correct in assuming of the 777 these are first in line to get converted to Polaris?

Will they get converted quickly or only when they are due for some other (Heavy) maintenance?
Hipplewm is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 6:30 am
  #530  
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: SYD, CBR, BDL
Programs: UA 1K, VA Platinum
Posts: 1,190
Originally Posted by Hipplewm
How many pUA 3 class 772's are there? 33 maybe??

Am I correct in assuming of the 777 these are first in line to get converted to Polaris?

Will they get converted quickly or only when they are due for some other (Heavy) maintenance?
Yes the 3-class definitely first to get converted. There are 33 and first should go in for mods/certification this winter.
UAinAUS is offline  
Old Oct 4, 2017, 9:40 am
  #531  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 11,419
Originally Posted by UAinAUS
Yes the 3-class definitely first to get converted. There are 33 and first should go in for mods/certification this winter.
Any idea what the J-configuration will look like?
cesco.g is offline  
Old Oct 4, 2017, 9:52 am
  #532  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Alexandria, Longboat Key
Programs: UA Gold Marriott Gold AA Gold Choice Gold Wyndham PLAT IHG PLAT Avis President's Club Amtrak Select
Posts: 2,255
Originally Posted by cesco.g
Any idea what the J-configuration will look like?
Earlier in the thread it was mentioned the 777-200ER fleet will have 292 seats with 50 in J. Yes, Y will be ten abreast.
Longboater is offline  
Old Oct 4, 2017, 9:54 am
  #533  
Moderator: Budget Travel forum & Credit Card Programs, FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: YYJ/YVR and back on Van Isle ....... for now
Programs: UA lifetime MM / *A Gold
Posts: 14,413
Originally Posted by cesco.g
Any idea what the J-configuration will look like?
I'd look at 773 Polaris, but with fewer seats. That should give you a good idea.
EmailKid is offline  
Old Oct 4, 2017, 11:17 am
  #534  
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: UA Million Mile, Mileage Plus Premier 1K, SkyMiles Gold Medallion, AAdvantage Gold
Posts: 875
Originally Posted by JOSECONLSCREW28
77E (77Y with polaris) 50/86/156 292 total. J stays the same at 50 Y+ increases 14 seats Y increases 11 seats.
Any idea when the first plane is going in to get the new seats? UA is still saying the first plane will be out before the end of the year. However, it took the first 763 3-4 months so I'm not hopeful.
DA201 is offline  
Old Oct 4, 2017, 3:44 pm
  #535  
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,605
50 is an interesting number as Polaris comes in two row sets. 60 works on the 77W with one set of 4 center seats removed in front of door 2 for a galley. 8x8=64, 64-4=60

It looks to me 50 could be challenging to make work on the 772.

Since the 77W hand 772 have the same space from door 1 to door 2, one would expect the same config in that area. However, I can't come up with a configuration that seems to match up for the 22 seats needed behind door 2.
Since the configuration has 10 fewer seats than the 77W, galley and lav reduction is probably key.

One way would be (looking at the 77W config) to pull the galley at rows 7 & 8 to add 4 seats, then only 18 seats would be needed behind door 2. That could be 4 rows (2 sets of paired rows plus two seats where one of the lavs is behind door 2. 4x4=16, 16+2=18. The questions would be if there is enough room to place a window pair where the lav is and would there be enough galley space with the large galley removed?

I think we'll just have to wait.

DA201, the first conversion take a lot longer than subsequent ones as there is an STC required and crews have no experience. The 763 conversions have a lot of work done, not just for the front of the aircraft, so it does take time. I suspect the 772s will as well, but not 3-4 months per aircraft. The 763 3 to 2 class conversions took about 6 weeks while the 772A conversions from international to domestic took between 42 and about 50 days. I think the 763s will end up in this time range and who knows, we may have 3 lines going at once soon - just guessing. With three lines one might come out every 15-20 days. 3 a month would complete the 13 3 class units in 4-5 months - once the 3 class 763s are complete, one would expect the 772 3 class units to start as that is the priority.

2 class 763 to Polaris should be easier as it looks like lavs/galleys are set and mostly only changes in Y look like repitching.
Bunky is offline  
Old Oct 4, 2017, 3:44 pm
  #536  
formerly bulgarianfreak55
 
Join Date: May 2012
Programs: United 1K, Marriott Platinum, SPG Platinum, Hertz Pres
Posts: 142
Wow the entire 777 fleet will be 10 abreast? Guess I won't be flying United long haul anymore unless its 787/A350 :[
TurboFan779 is offline  
Old Oct 4, 2017, 5:33 pm
  #537  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,650
Originally Posted by TurboFan779
Wow the entire 777 fleet will be 10 abreast? Guess I won't be flying United long haul anymore unless its 787/A350 :[
787 is the same misery at 9 abreast in an 18" smaller cabin.
mduell is offline  
Old Oct 4, 2017, 7:14 pm
  #538  
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,424
CALTECH on A.net has a screenshot of the J cabin from the 777 LOPA.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/154507814@N07/36299314893/in/dateposted-public
EWR764 is offline  
Old Oct 4, 2017, 10:39 pm
  #539  
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,605
Thanks EWR764.

That works. Just wonder what they can do with the foot cubbies space that is unused in the last row of window seats. Usually they come in pairs and there is wasted space from the missing seat. Storage maybe?
Bunky is offline  
Old Oct 4, 2017, 10:45 pm
  #540  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,291
Originally Posted by Bunky
Just wonder what they can do with the foot cubbies space that is unused in the last row of window seats. Usually they come in pairs and there is wasted space from the missing seat. Storage maybe?
Basic Economy.
drewguy likes this.
Kacee is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.