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, ....
Jul 31, 2018, 3:12 pm
#1171
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,448
UA will probably book a charge on the 789s to accelerate the depreciation on newer ships as those interiors are replaced in 2019/2020. This will probably be in the tens of millions.
Jul 31, 2018, 3:23 pm
#1172
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 249
50?! There's 29 Polaris birds right now, with another 4ish currently being converted. That's out of approximately 170 widebody planes in the UA fleet.
Jul 31, 2018, 3:27 pm
#1173
Join Date: May 2010
Location: AVP & PEK
Programs: UA 1K 1.8MM
Posts: 6,346
The benefits of the Polaris seat will sadly not outweigh the negatives of 10 across in E, IMO.
My only hope is PE, but I am not sure that will prove all it's cracked up to be as far as price and/or upgrade availability is concerned.
Have to wait and see, I guess.
Right now, they can leave the 77Y upgrade until the very, very end, and I will be okay with that.
Jul 31, 2018, 8:49 pm
#1174
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 66
The first batch of 787-8s are approaching their 6th birthdays, which is sufficient from the perspective of capital depreciation for the seating assets to be replaced.
UA will probably book a charge on the 789s to accelerate the depreciation on newer ships as those interiors are replaced in 2019/2020. This will probably be in the tens of millions.
UA will probably book a charge on the 789s to accelerate the depreciation on newer ships as those interiors are replaced in 2019/2020. This will probably be in the tens of millions.
The 7 oldest 2-class 767-300s will be replaced by the 3 Hawaiian 763s and the 4 recently ordered 789s arriving in 2020. That leaves 14 2-class 763s and coincidently UA is taking delivery of 14 787-10s. Perhaps the 787-10s would take over the 767-400 routes and the 764 would allow those non Polaris 763s to exit the fleet. However it’s been mum on a projected start date for 764 Polaris mods.
Aug 1, 2018, 1:33 am
#1175
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Seoul
Programs: None anymore
Posts: 983
I read elsewhere that the 787–8 mods start June 2019 and 787-9 mods start Aug 2019 with each program completing one year later.
The 7 oldest 2-class 767-300s will be replaced by the 3 Hawaiian 763s and the 4 recently ordered 789s arriving in 2020. That leaves 14 2-class 763s and coincidently UA is taking delivery of 14 787-10s. Perhaps the 787-10s would take over the 767-400 routes and the 764 would allow those non Polaris 763s to exit the fleet. However it’s been mum on a projected start date for 764 Polaris mods.
Aug 1, 2018, 1:39 am
#1176
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: California
Programs: UA 1k
Posts: 107
Versus other airlines/seats they're both some of the most reliable / likely sleep on a plane for me. Though I am sure a lot of that is just better familiarity with the product and routine. Mattress pad, blanket, eye mask, ...
Aug 1, 2018, 3:40 am
#1177
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,448
The 7 oldest 2-class 767-300s will be replaced by the 3 Hawaiian 763s and the 4 recently ordered 789s arriving in 2020. That leaves 14 2-class 763s and coincidently UA is taking delivery of 14 787-10s. Perhaps the 787-10s would take over the 767-400 routes and the 764 would allow those non Polaris 763s to exit the fleet. However it’s been mum on a projected start date for 764 Polaris mods.
Ultimately the 787-10 is part of the company’s 772 replacement strategy. It’s a year or two overdue, but they can be considered a more direct replacement of the 777-222 on international routes.
Aug 1, 2018, 8:12 am
#1178
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
As for the 8s, I would imaging much of the chalange with the 6s and the 7s is that UA and CO had different layouts that now are be converted into a common layout. Lavs need to be moved, etc. ( think about the two versions of the 77H ). They are trying to create a consistent layout.
Since the 8s were purchased post merger, they are all typical and won't need as much gutting. In fact, I would imagine that behind the P+ / Y+ partition, they do very little to the Y cabin.
Aug 1, 2018, 9:13 am
#1179
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Washington DC
Programs: Delta DM CO PE OZ GE AMTRAK
Posts: 524
you have a half year left in 2018. you will also get a few new 787-10 and 77w toward the end of the year too. in addition, not all 170 widebodies will get the treatment, probably closer to 150 at the end of the day.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Aug 1, 2018 at 1:06 pm Reason: snarky comment deleted
Aug 1, 2018, 9:38 am
#1180
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: 14,428
That's right - a handfull of the 3-class 763s were already converted to 2-class before Polaris.
As for the 8s, I would imaging much of the chalange with the 6s and the 7s is that UA and CO had different layouts that now are be converted into a common layout. Lavs need to be moved, etc. ( think about the two versions of the 77H ). They are trying to create a consistent layout.
Since the 8s were purchased post merger, they are all typical and won't need as much gutting. In fact, I would imagine that behind the P+ / Y+ partition, they do very little to the Y cabin.
As for the 8s, I would imaging much of the chalange with the 6s and the 7s is that UA and CO had different layouts that now are be converted into a common layout. Lavs need to be moved, etc. ( think about the two versions of the 77H ). They are trying to create a consistent layout.
Since the 8s were purchased post merger, they are all typical and won't need as much gutting. In fact, I would imagine that behind the P+ / Y+ partition, they do very little to the Y cabin.
Both 77H are PMUA.
Both CO and UA ordered 787s pre merger, but deliveries started post merger.
Aug 1, 2018, 10:49 am
#1181
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,448
I believe all of those 3-cabin 763s converted to 2-cabin 76E will retire, so only the 14 (of 21 total 76E) more recent, 2000-2002 builds will get Polaris/PE, but since the interior, winglets and other life extension mods are already completed, it should be a pretty quick retrofit.
Aug 1, 2018, 12:29 pm
#1182
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: 14,428
I believe all of those 3-cabin 763s converted to 2-cabin 76E will retire, so only the 14 (of 21 total 76E) more recent, 2000-2002 builds will get Polaris/PE, but since the interior, winglets and other life extension mods are already completed, it should be a pretty quick retrofit.
Aug 1, 2018, 12:37 pm
#1183
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,448
Right, the former "GBs" were the first batch of 763 converted starting in 2012 to a 2-cabin international configuration. I'm surprised it's already been 6+ years since the first one came out (summer 2012), and it makes sense that they are in line for new interiors.
Aug 2, 2018, 5:41 am
#1184
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
Yes, but they came from different "pools" if you will. The one type was already a domestic version while the other type was converted from the International Pool (the non-"ER" pool). The lavs, galleys, crew rest pods, etc. were all set up differently. Thus we have different seat layouts among the two versions. UA is trying to avoid having this among the UA and CO 772-ERs
While that may be true, luckily they were delivered far enough after the merger UA was able to have them configured the same and no one-type has to have a huge gut job to match the other type. This could, and probably will prevent them from needing to do much in the Y cabin outside of installing P+.
While that may be true, luckily they were delivered far enough after the merger UA was able to have them configured the same and no one-type has to have a huge gut job to match the other type. This could, and probably will prevent them from needing to do much in the Y cabin outside of installing P+.
Aug 3, 2018, 7:56 pm
#1185
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 6
On the United Polaris Tracker website, they note the 767-300 as flying from O'Hare to Europe. Any word on what routes this will be? Recently had a flight to Paris flip from a 3 class to 2 class plane, I assume that means likely not the actual Polaris seats on this flight?