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, ....
Oct 5, 2018, 3:19 am
#1336
formerly 1984SW
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Oct 5, 2018, 6:10 am
#1337
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: BOS
Programs: UA 1K (2MM); AA LT Gold (1.9 MM); SQ; WN; DL; "Bonvoy Ambassador""
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Please accept my apologies if this question is already addressed in this thread or elsewhere: Is there a roadmap for Polaris reconfiguration rollout by route or hub? I am based at IAH and although I understand there is an infrequent Polaris reconfig passing through, have yet to ride any Polaris hard product (and I fly EWR - LHR frequently as well). One possible rationale is that IAH is fairly captive, so no need to roll out the best to compete, but the NY to London market is fiercely competitive so I guess that is not the reason. Many thanks, BTB
Oct 5, 2018, 8:08 am
#1338
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
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Oct 7, 2018, 11:52 am
#1341
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 9,005
Was searching various routings the past couple of days and noticed a couple things on pmUA 772s:
1) The J cabin shows 5 rows of 2-4-2 sandwiched all together, as opposed to broken into 2 sections of 2 rows and 3 rows
2) Y shows as 10-across, but one of the seats in the middle-4 section is blocked out on the entire plane
I'm not sure why they would bother showing the old seatmap with what feels like the post-Polaris retrofitted seating (particularly in Y) - I feel like there could be passengers who want to sit in the 4-across section as a family and will be annoyed that they can't book one of the middle seats. Seems a bit premature IMO...
1) The J cabin shows 5 rows of 2-4-2 sandwiched all together, as opposed to broken into 2 sections of 2 rows and 3 rows
2) Y shows as 10-across, but one of the seats in the middle-4 section is blocked out on the entire plane
I'm not sure why they would bother showing the old seatmap with what feels like the post-Polaris retrofitted seating (particularly in Y) - I feel like there could be passengers who want to sit in the 4-across section as a family and will be annoyed that they can't book one of the middle seats. Seems a bit premature IMO...
Oct 7, 2018, 12:20 pm
#1342
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,413
I'm not sure why they would bother showing the old seatmap with what feels like the post-Polaris retrofitted seating (particularly in Y) - I feel like there could be passengers who want to sit in the 4-across section as a family and will be annoyed that they can't book one of the middle seats. Seems a bit premature IMO...
They're using the hybrid seat map as a way to keep from committing to using a particular type of plane on a given flight.
Oct 7, 2018, 1:22 pm
#1343
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC/ EWR/ PHL
Programs: UA Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,212
Please accept my apologies if this question is already addressed in this thread or elsewhere: Is there a roadmap for Polaris reconfiguration rollout by route or hub? I am based at IAH and although I understand there is an infrequent Polaris reconfig passing through, have yet to ride any Polaris hard product (and I fly EWR - LHR frequently as well). One possible rationale is that IAH is fairly captive, so no need to roll out the best to compete, but the NY to London market is fiercely competitive so I guess that is not the reason. Many thanks, BTB
Oct 8, 2018, 4:22 am
#1345
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PHL
Programs: UA Plat, 2MM
Posts: 1,860
The retrofit is taking quite some time, but that is par for UNITED. They announced this "new product" quite some time ago, and are very slow in getting the fleet updated. As you can read in other posts they have already cut back on some of the original product on board. UA is good at hype but not delivering.
Oct 8, 2018, 8:33 am
#1346
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Washington DC
Programs: Delta DM CO PE OZ GE AMTRAK
Posts: 524
The retrofit is taking quite some time, but that is par for UNITED. They announced this "new product" quite some time ago, and are very slow in getting the fleet updated. As you can read in other posts they have already cut back on some of the original product on board. UA is good at hype but not delivering.
Oct 8, 2018, 12:07 pm
#1347
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Austin, TX - AUS
Programs: AA Platinum, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott
Posts: 1,625
The retrofit is taking quite some time, but that is par for UNITED. They announced this "new product" quite some time ago, and are very slow in getting the fleet updated. As you can read in other posts they have already cut back on some of the original product on board. UA is good at hype but not delivering.
Ditto at AA. Back in 2012, they announced their new business seat, and they didn't start updating the fleet until 2014 (2 years after announcement). AA finished updating their fleet in 2017 (5 years after announcement), and even then they ended up having several different business seats.
Outside the USA, airlines such as Qantas, Emirates, Qatar, KLM, Singapore, etc have announced new business products recently, and yet only a small percentage of their long haul fleets have the new product installed.
Oct 8, 2018, 1:34 pm
#1348
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: UA-1K MM, AA-Gold, DL-Silver, AS-MVP
Posts: 2,509
The retrofit is taking quite some time, but that is par for UNITED. They announced this "new product" quite some time ago, and are very slow in getting the fleet updated. As you can read in other posts they have already cut back on some of the original product on board. UA is good at hype but not delivering.
And to be fair, the UA 763 and 772 all have to be retrofitted with new lavs, new overhead bins on 763, install premium economy and new economy seats. Basically a nose to tail retrofit. QR only had to replace the J cabin with Q-suites and they're only slightly faster.
And noted above, DL doesn't even have a retrofit plan for their 767 and AA 767 refits were half-baked (missing IFE and old overhead bins in econ).
Oct 8, 2018, 10:16 pm
#1349
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Maui, HI
Posts: 135
Hawaii
So...since it say sall 777-200 will be converted, does that mean that finally I'll have a good lie flat experience on United returning home to Hawaii every year during the holidays? I find myself paying for AA since their 777 seats are much better, even though I could probably use my miles for United. I want proper Polaris to/from Hawaii!!!
Oct 8, 2018, 10:35 pm
#1350
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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