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 4, 2018, 9:08 pm
#887
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: BA Bronze, United 1K, HH Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,477
I'm guilty of doing this kind of thing: buying tickets way, way in advance. Sometimes, I find good fares in Business with my preferred seats available. Other times, I find real good fares in Economy + with my preferred seats available. And in that preferred seat in Economy +, I manage quite well on a 16 hours flight. Maybe my problem is that I only like a very few seats on the 3 class 772: one in Polaris First, four in Polaris Business and four in Economy +. This, multiplied by two since my wife always comes with me on these trips. Maybe when I will have a plane with the real Polaris seats, I will have more preferred seats. On USAirways, with the 1-2-1 configuration, I liked all the window seats.
Apr 4, 2018, 9:33 pm
#888
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,461
I'm guilty of doing this kind of thing: buying tickets way, way in advance. Sometimes, I find good fares in Business with my preferred seats available. Other times, I find real good fares in Economy + with my preferred seats available. And in that preferred seat in Economy +, I manage quite well on a 16 hours flight. Maybe my problem is that I only like a very few seats on the 3 class 772: one in Polaris First, four in Polaris Business and four in Economy +. This, multiplied by two since my wife always comes with me on these trips. Maybe when I will have a plane with the real Polaris seats, I will have more preferred seats. On USAirways, with the 1-2-1 configuration, I liked all the window seats.
Apr 5, 2018, 12:20 am
#889
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 11,468
I´d appreciate some input from the experts here - I am looking for Europe to US (OSL-LAS) travel in early November and cannot find a single aircraft with new business class seating (checking seat maps on UA site). What routes could I potentially look for retrofitted aircraft with new Polaris seat?
Apr 5, 2018, 5:42 am
#890
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: BA Bronze, United 1K, HH Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,477
Actually, we are more A-A seats, L-L seats or even A-L seats. Window with aisle access is the best combination. We had that for years on USAirways going to Europe and felt like a downgrade when we had to start flying United.
Apr 5, 2018, 8:24 am
#891
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,453
772 doesn't have capacity for single SFO-FRA per day.
Apr 5, 2018, 10:54 am
#892
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: Marriott Platinum Elite, National Executive, United Gold
Posts: 1,181
Accounting for the LH JV, there are 2x daily 772s and 1x A346 on FRA-SFO (not including the A343 on SJC-FRA) in Nov 2018 - would think that's enough capacity?
I'm a bit surprised UA placehold a 772 on the TATL routes ex-SFO considering they've publicly stated strong TATL J yields and general TPAC softness over the past couple of quarters.
I'm a bit surprised UA placehold a 772 on the TATL routes ex-SFO considering they've publicly stated strong TATL J yields and general TPAC softness over the past couple of quarters.
Apr 5, 2018, 11:34 am
#893
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Northern California
Programs: I want to be free! Free!
Posts: 3,455
The problem may be the Y yields; the 772s have significantly less capacity to fill in the back.
Apr 5, 2018, 1:15 pm
#894
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,453
The route was formerly operated with UA 744s and an LH 380. Subbing 772s for 744s and a 346 for a 380 is a major capacity reduction.
Apr 5, 2018, 3:42 pm
#895
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,776
Currently November FRA-SFO is offering double daily 772 service on my dates, but will keep an eye on this route for potential changes.
Apr 5, 2018, 5:44 pm
#896
Join Date: Nov 2014
Programs: UA 2MM
Posts: 1,679
Currently UA has 2x 772, LH has a 346 and then LH is also running an A380 to MUC to push connection traffic through MUC vs FRA. For a winter schedule that is 1,328 daily seats from SFO-FRA/MUC which is more than the 1x 744, 1x 346 and 1x 388 that used to fly that
Apr 5, 2018, 9:40 pm
#897
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: UA Million Mile, Mileage Plus Premier 1K, SkyMiles Gold Medallion, AAdvantage Gold
Posts: 875
How much longer are we expecting? It says it flew about one week ago, but UA has still not released a seat map (as they did right before the first 763 was completed). The 763s have usually been sent back within a few days of their test flight.
Apr 5, 2018, 10:23 pm
#898
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Seoul
Programs: None anymore
Posts: 983
This is the first one so it has to be certified, that takes a bit of time. They may have also found an issue they need to resolve before it gets certification.
Apr 6, 2018, 12:28 am
#899
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 11,468
Apr 6, 2018, 11:27 am
#900
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AA EXP, HH Diamond, MR Gold, Avis PC, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,252
I don't know if this has already been posted, but the seatmap for the Polaris-ized 772 has been posted on united.com (click on version 5): https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...0/default.aspx
Under entertainment in Y it only lists PDE...did they really take out the seat back screens??
Under entertainment in Y it only lists PDE...did they really take out the seat back screens??