May 29, 17, 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, ....
Feb 16, 17, 10:23 am
#91
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Interesting stuff, thanks for drawing up. One thing which might be an issue on the sCO 777s is the pilot rest facility, currently consisting of two bunks occupying the space forward of 1L that accommodates 2 lavs in the sUA and 77W configuration. It will be interesting to see if UA adds an upper lobe (like 787 and 77W) or lower lobe (like sUA 777) pilot rest facility, or keeps things status quo and retains a lav aft of 1L on the retrofit 777-224ERs. I'd also anticipate UA keeping only 3 lavs in J on the 772s.
Feb 16, 17, 1:18 pm
#92
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and in that spirit
That's a better thread for seat issues while this thread could focus on retrofit plans.
Feb 17, 17, 7:31 am
#93
Join Date: Feb 2015
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Not sure if this is correct thread, but... I'm currently booked EWR-TLV on the 777-200 pmCO in December. I've read various reports that these might be retrofitted this year, and that TLV might be in line to be an early route adoption for the new seated planes.
Might my flight switch to the Polaris seats and, if so, how would that impact my family of 4 seating?
Might my flight switch to the Polaris seats and, if so, how would that impact my family of 4 seating?
Feb 17, 17, 10:56 am
#95
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Not sure if this is correct thread, but... I'm currently booked EWR-TLV on the 777-200 pmCO in December. I've read various reports that these might be retrofitted this year, and that TLV might be in line to be an early route adoption for the new seated planes.
Might my flight switch to the Polaris seats and, if so, how would that impact my family of 4 seating?
Might my flight switch to the Polaris seats and, if so, how would that impact my family of 4 seating?
Feb 18, 17, 5:21 am
#96
Join Date: Feb 2015
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You're mixing a couple of issues - UA is rolling out a 777-300 with Polaris seats, and one route mentioned as a possibility is SFO-TLV. Separately they'll be retrofitting 777-200 planes, but that's end of year at earliest, and seems more likely to start with the UA models of this, which don't fly out of EWR.
Feb 18, 17, 5:53 am
#97
Join Date: Jul 2015
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You are correct that EWR-TLV is slated to switch to a 77W (am assuming just one daily frequency). If that happens to your flight just go and make sure you and your family have the seats you want. UA will probably auto-assign seats but you may not like them.
Feb 18, 17, 3:38 pm
#98
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Not to discredit what UA is doing with Polaris, because it is light years ahead of what they have now, but DL leapfrogged right over Polaris by announcing the business class suite with full closure door. Now, I think in retrospect, that's what UA should have done with Polaris to slam the door shut on both DL and AA when it comes to the premium cabin. However, UA is now locked into the Polaris seat that is coming out on the 77W. You wont see a full business class suite with door anytime soon and I bet Oscar wishes they thought of that idea first.
The 767's really shouldn't get them as someone above mentioned, its a waste of CAPEX, a large percentage of the UA 767 fleet is very long in the tooth and will be retired soon anyway. They have the flat beds so UA will just have to live with that until the 767s get replaced.
So, the problem UA is going to have is having to many different cabins spread out amongst their wide body fleet. And for the foreseeable future, a very small percentage of UA's international planes will have 1-2-1 flatbed seating. That in and of itself still puts them at a huge disadvantage. Frequent fliers aren't going to know what to expect. DL you know if your flying on a widebody, your getting 1-2-1 flatbed seating.
The 767's really shouldn't get them as someone above mentioned, its a waste of CAPEX, a large percentage of the UA 767 fleet is very long in the tooth and will be retired soon anyway. They have the flat beds so UA will just have to live with that until the 767s get replaced.
So, the problem UA is going to have is having to many different cabins spread out amongst their wide body fleet. And for the foreseeable future, a very small percentage of UA's international planes will have 1-2-1 flatbed seating. That in and of itself still puts them at a huge disadvantage. Frequent fliers aren't going to know what to expect. DL you know if your flying on a widebody, your getting 1-2-1 flatbed seating.
Feb 18, 17, 4:34 pm
#99
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Despite what UA's seat map may misrepresent, the new C seat cabins are not 1-2-1 but still 2-4-2 and bear no comparison with DL/AA's (and dozens of other airlines') true 1-2-1 arrangements. UA may have addressed the "all aisle" access issue but it's still a high density update of the same seat arrangement used by OZ and NH for many years (among others), or BA in its current and future incarnations.
Feb 18, 17, 5:14 pm
#100
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Feb 18, 17, 5:22 pm
#101
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I would call it a hybrid 1-2-1 as it is more dense than a 1-2-1 but but not as bad as a 2-4-2 layout. And all seats do have aisle access without stepping over another person to get to the aisle.
Feb 18, 17, 5:28 pm
#102
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I was skeptical based on the original renderings but having actually flown it, I say it definitely qualifies as 1-2-1 and disagree with the "hybrid" label. I think it's objectively preferable to the Solstys 1-2-1 and personally I like it better than Cirrus, though others may have a different view there.
Feb 18, 17, 6:01 pm
#103
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Despite what UA's seat map may misrepresent, the new C seat cabins are not 1-2-1 but still 2-4-2 and bear no comparison with DL/AA's (and dozens of other airlines') true 1-2-1 arrangements. UA may have addressed the "all aisle" access issue but it's still a high density update of the same seat arrangement used by OZ and NH for many years (among others), or BA in its current and future incarnations.
The outer seats (middle or window) are more exposed to the aisle.
The inline window seats offer the most privacy, but they might be quite drafty, pushed as they are up against the cabin sidewalls.
Feb 18, 17, 6:05 pm
#104
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That was me talking to the UA Polaris hard product rep on board the EWR-SFO first flight, he mentioned ALL 777-300's will be rolled out before the years end, and he said the first routes getting them were SFO-HKG and EWR-TLV.
Feb 18, 17, 6:07 pm
#105
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Despite what UA's seat map may misrepresent, the new C seat cabins are not 1-2-1 but still 2-4-2 and bear no comparison with DL/AA's (and dozens of other airlines') true 1-2-1 arrangements. UA may have addressed the "all aisle" access issue but it's still a high density update of the same seat arrangement used by OZ and NH for many years (among others), or BA in its current and future incarnations.
. It's interesting to read the people here who bash the product and have never flown it. Polaris is a true 1-2-1, a great seat for J, Y is another story.
