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, ....
#1501
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#1502
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Assuming the sCO 772 are based in EWR, then they should likely be flying EWR-CDG and EWR-BRU, which are the only dedicated 772 routes with Premium Plus out of EWR so far. If sCO 772 are not based anywhere, they'll just be rotated through the system.
#1503
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It's already been noted elsewhere that at least one of the sCO 772 rotations will be moved on/about March 30 to ORD, doing 895/896 to HKG.
#1504
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Yes, but ORD-HKG is not a dedicated route with Premium Plus, so it may or may not have retrofitted sCO 772. Whereas EWR-CDG/BRU are already selling PP seats on 772 (again, no idea if they're using sCO 772 or sUA 772). I was only assuming if they based the retrofitted sCO 772 at EWR, the likely routes would be EWR-CDG/BRU.
#1505
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#1506
Join Date: Feb 2010
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When i go to United's fleet upgrade progress checked, it only mentioned 787-10 series ("Aircraft will be added to our schedule starting in early 2019")
Why doesnt it mention other A/C types' progress like 787-9
Also, since this flight is 11 hours 50 minutes, there arent any PJs? Hard to believe a 10-minute cutoff makes a difference, but i guess it does.
Finally, what amenities should I ask for in advance before takeoff then? Gel pillow only?
Why doesnt it mention other A/C types' progress like 787-9
Also, since this flight is 11 hours 50 minutes, there arent any PJs? Hard to believe a 10-minute cutoff makes a difference, but i guess it does.
Finally, what amenities should I ask for in advance before takeoff then? Gel pillow only?
#1507
Join Date: Nov 2012
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Posts: 3,477
That being said, you can always ask. Sometimes they have some on planes that came from a different route.
#1508
Join Date: May 2015
Programs: All the programs!
Posts: 1,006
United's Vice-President of Marketing Mark Krolick says
"The Boeing 787 upgrade program is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2019"
By the end of 2020, we should have the majority of the international widebody fleet reconfigured... the only possible exceptions to that would be any aircraft that are slated for immediate retirement,"
https://www.ausbt.com.au/united-s-bo...ade-this-year?
"The Boeing 787 upgrade program is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2019"
By the end of 2020, we should have the majority of the international widebody fleet reconfigured... the only possible exceptions to that would be any aircraft that are slated for immediate retirement,"
https://www.ausbt.com.au/united-s-bo...ade-this-year?
#1509
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On 787 Polaris conversion:
I will be happy if they finish all the 777 and 767 aircrafts before starting the 787s in late 2019. UA has a proven track records of over promise and missing deadlines. The guys is from marketing not finance or operations, so that explains the more optimistic statement.
Nevertheless.....I need to see before believing it.
I will be happy if they finish all the 777 and 767 aircrafts before starting the 787s in late 2019. UA has a proven track records of over promise and missing deadlines. The guys is from marketing not finance or operations, so that explains the more optimistic statement.
Nevertheless.....I need to see before believing it.
#1510
Join Date: Sep 2010
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This might be a dumb question, but why does the UA Polaris tracking site say 13 of 14 767-300ER aircraft are complete when there are ~35 of these frames in service? I saw the discussion way upthread about subfleets, but this is just flat out wrong.
#1511
Join Date: Jan 2005
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On 787 Polaris conversion:
I will be happy if they finish all the 777 and 767 aircrafts before starting the 787s in late 2019. UA has a proven track records of over promise and missing deadlines. The guys is from marketing not finance or operations, so that explains the more optimistic statement.
Nevertheless.....I need to see before believing it.
I will be happy if they finish all the 777 and 767 aircrafts before starting the 787s in late 2019. UA has a proven track records of over promise and missing deadlines. The guys is from marketing not finance or operations, so that explains the more optimistic statement.
Nevertheless.....I need to see before believing it.
So, based on that back-of-the-envelope calculation, 50 reconfigured aircraft in 2019 is within the realm of possibility...
#1512
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Someone messed up the latest update. 13/14 of the former 3-class aircraft are converted. 14 additional 2-class 763s will be converted
#1513
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: RDU
Posts: 5,242
When will 763's to Europe be converted to Polaris seats?
Having been on a converted 767-300 (to SCL I think), it was quite nice. I'm wondering how many of the 763's to Europe will be converted? I see a figure of 14 out of a total of 35? I'm looking at a trip RDU-JFK-VCE in late September which would be on a 763. Haven't booked it yet. Comparing it with some Delta One flights that my partner wants to check out. Having recently been on a Polaris trip, I'd prefer to stay with United.
I guess I got lucky because my trip was in December of last year. I was checking RDU-IAH-SCL IN March and I don't see the Polaris equipped 763.
I guess I got lucky because my trip was in December of last year. I was checking RDU-IAH-SCL IN March and I don't see the Polaris equipped 763.
#1514
Join Date: Jul 2005
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There are no dedicated 763 routes with the new Polaris seats. Your chance of getting one just depends on how many refitted planes are flying, which is currently at 13 out of 33.