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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 Oct 15, 2017, 1:39 pm
  #601  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Originally Posted by wxguy
Don't forget some 77Ws are currently on non-ULH routes (NRT-SFO for example), and can easily be replaced by a Polarisized 772.
NRT-SFO is also there so that it can swap planes with the NRT-EWR-TLV plane. Otherwise, they'll have to continue to do the SFO-EWR domestic run with the 77W.

Originally Posted by halls120
In evaluating this subset, UA doesn’t look good compared to the competition, and to its own star alliance partners. I’ve heard it said that the only reason American and Delta are installing PE on their long haul fleet is due to pressure from their alliance partners.
It's evident that UA is non-competitive with PE, and there are other choices on *A airlines that offer that product. And you push for PE product because you are in that target segment. Maybe if other *A partners show UA the financial benefits of PE, UA will install PE.

I think UA is quite competitive with 50J on 772, it gives me more business seat inventory and more opportunities to purchase outright, upgrade or redeem. As compared to 37-45J on AA 772 or 37J on DL 772.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 12:13 am
  #602  
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Originally Posted by hirohito888
It's evident that UA is non-competitive with PE, and there are other choices on *A airlines that offer that product. And you push for PE product because you are in that target segment. Maybe if other *A partners show UA the financial benefits of PE, UA will install PE.
I think, if PE was a slam-dunk money maker UA and some others, incl. their TATL partners LX and OS of the LH-group would (have) jump(ed) on it quickly.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 12:26 am
  #603  
 
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Originally Posted by hirohito888
I think UA is quite competitive with 50J on 772, it gives me more business seat inventory and more opportunities to purchase outright, upgrade or redeem. As compared to 37-45J on AA 772 or 37J on DL 772.
I’m with you here. If UA were to move to the materially smaller J cabins of their peers, I’d be personally troubled. I think premium Y is a little tadbit overrated compared to the $/redemption value, and if the trade off is less J seats, or the wholesale elimination of Economy Plus, I wouldn’t be exactly thrilled...

We at UA discount how good we have it with our large J cabins and comparatively large (relative to peers) fleet wide Economy Plus.

And let’s not discuss the outrageous redemption for DL’s A350 “suites”. UA’s outgoing United First “Suites” (which are far larger than DL’s Vantage XL J “suites”) are easier to ride in (redemption and $)! Gotta tip my hat off to DL if they’re able to price that product somewhere between F and J because of their marketing, though.
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Last edited by tuolumne; Oct 16, 2017 at 12:39 am
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 7:46 am
  #604  
 
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Originally Posted by tuolumne
Well, think aboit it - less 777s (far,far less actually), means less of a revenue hit when they go with 3-3-3 v. AA or UA, both of who be have large 777 fleets.
Not on a per plane basis, which is what matters - return on a given asset.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 9:01 am
  #605  
 
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Question - on the 767-300's, are they going to touch coach on the retrofit? I am flying to GVA in Feb and am hoping that its not a crica-1982 version of the 767.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 9:14 am
  #606  
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Originally Posted by nyr2299
Question - on the 767-300's, are they going to touch coach on the retrofit?
Thankfully they are not. Leaving it 2-3-2, with normal-person sized seats.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 9:39 am
  #607  
 
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Originally Posted by nyr2299
Question - on the 767-300's, are they going to touch coach on the retrofit? I am flying to GVA in Feb and am hoping that its not a crica-1982 version of the 767.
Originally Posted by Kacee
Thankfully they are not. Leaving it 2-3-2, with normal-person sized seats.
They're leaving it 2-3-2 but they have replaced the seats new ones that have power and IFE - the PMUA 3-class 763s do not have this in coach.

It should be noted that the EWR-GVA flight is currently operated by the 2-class 767-300 so it is unlikely that you will get a Polaris configured plane by then as they're starting with the PMUA 3-class ones. But, the plane already features IFE and power in coach.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 10:11 am
  #608  
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Originally Posted by villox
It should be noted that the EWR-GVA flight is currently operated by the 2-class 767-300 so it is unlikely that you will get a Polaris configured plane by then as they're starting with the PMUA 3-class ones.
Actually, the EWR-GVA run has seen the 3-class 763 quite often over the last couple of years and frequently wide open for awards/upgrades.
Still, very uncertain that this would translate into a 763 with Polaris seating come February.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 8:39 am
  #609  
 
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Question

Originally Posted by cesco.g
Actually, the EWR-GVA run has seen the 3-class 763 quite often over the last couple of years and frequently wide open for awards/upgrades.
Still, very uncertain that this would translate into a 763 with Polaris seating come February.
I am flying UA on January 8, 2018 on a 777-200...what are the chances that the plane will be retrofitted by then? It's ORD-MUC
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 9:00 am
  #610  
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Originally Posted by Courtney Masters
I am flying UA on January 8, 2018 on a 777-200...what are the chances that the plane will be retrofitted by then? It's ORD-MUC
Slim, given that not a single 772 has emerged with Polaris seats.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 11:04 am
  #611  
 
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Where has the 767 been flying lately?
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 11:22 am
  #612  
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Originally Posted by JAaronT
Where has the 767 been flying lately?
HAM, LHR, BCN., IAH, HNL, MUC, EWR, GRU...

See the list here: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N644UA
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 11:36 am
  #613  
 
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Originally Posted by UASleeper
HAM, LHR, BCN., IAH, HNL, MUC, EWR, GRU...

See the list here: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N644UA
Thanks! Not touching ORD at all.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 11:59 am
  #614  
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Originally Posted by JAaronT
Thanks! Not touching ORD at all.
Looks like most/if not all runs were from/to EWR.
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 10:11 am
  #615  
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The mobile version of the Polaris tracker has been updated and now shows the progress of the retrofitting by airplane type in percentages: 777-300ER (74%), 767-300ER (7%) and 777-200ER (0%). Here is the link: http://view.ceros.com/united/polaris-tracker-mobile/p/3 (Note: the desktop version has not been adjusted yet.)

For the 777-300ER a comment states that "remaining aircraft will be added to our fleet in 2018;" for the 767 it says "remaining aircraft will be retrofitted throughout 2017 and 2018 and for the 777-200ER it says "aircraft will start to be retrofitted in early 2018."

It confirms the slow retrofitting progress for the sUA763 and seems to be the first official indication that no 772 will go to HKG or elsewhere to be retrofitted before Jan 2018 the earliest. Or will the first aircraft be retrofitted in stealth mode, since it has been rumored that the first 772 (N782UA) may already be undergoing its retrofit in XMN?
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