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✨ Polaris (& PP) Retrofits: Schedule, ....

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Old May 29, 2017, 1:21 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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, 46 86 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

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✨ Polaris (& PP) Retrofits: Schedule, ....

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Old Jun 4, 2018, 10:03 am
  #1021  
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Originally Posted by jbeans
Did a search for transcon (jfk - sfo/lax) 757-200s with no results; does it mean that these planes will never see Polaris seats?
Never say never, but no plans for the 757 fleet, and this comes from a C-level United executive. In the same conversation, he confirmed that every international widebody (so, not including 77H) is slated to receive Polaris mods in the next two to three years, save for seven (7) 1992/93-build 763ER currently in 2-cabin configuration with B/E Diamond flat-bed seats, which will be retired at some point.
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Old Jun 4, 2018, 11:04 am
  #1022  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Originally Posted by jbeans
Did a search for transcon (jfk - sfo/lax) 757-200s with no results; does it mean that these planes will never see Polaris seats?
You probably get no results for JFK-SFO/LAX because UA doesn't serve JFK.
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Old Jun 4, 2018, 1:04 pm
  #1023  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
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Originally Posted by rmadisonwi
You probably get no results for JFK-SFO/LAX because UA doesn't serve JFK.
sorry I meant ewr. I was mostly searching for the 757 fleet.
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Old Jun 4, 2018, 1:11 pm
  #1024  
 
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Originally Posted by TonyBurr
Where on the UA website do I find the schedule for the planes which are completed in the refit, and the number not completed?
Their official website for that seems to be Polaris Tracker - Desktop (don't know why it's not hosted on united.com)

There's also the unofficial website at https://sites.google.com/site/united...fleet-tracking
LXFlyer is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2018, 12:26 am
  #1025  
 
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I wonder what the holdup is in getting N651UA out of HKG and into service. It looks like N647UA was going to be next but they cancelled the run to HKG

N647UA FlightAware
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 1:35 am
  #1026  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
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So 1x 772 per year is the rate we're going at or what? I thought things were supposed to speed up after the first one?
gcashin likes this.
Wise-Broccoli8301 is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2018, 2:08 am
  #1027  
 
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Originally Posted by dmo580
So 1x 772 per year is the rate we're going at or what? I thought things were supposed to speed up after the first one?
It's closer to a ten-week mod at this point, so the next ship should be out later in the month. There are currently 3 777s in XMN, and there will be a STC process for the first PE bird as well.
EWR764 is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2018, 11:40 am
  #1028  
 
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But we were told one bird every ten days. We're barely at one bird every 30 days.
phkc070408 is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2018, 12:44 pm
  #1029  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
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Originally Posted by phkc070408
But we were told one bird every ten days. We're barely at one bird every 30 days.
It wouldn’t be the first time UA overpromised and underdelivered when it came to Polaris.
Plane-is-home, atword and mrt88 like this.
PsiFighter37 is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2018, 2:29 pm
  #1030  
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Originally Posted by phkc070408
But we were told one bird every ten days. We're barely at one bird every 30 days.
it is a long run average across all fleet and across all years up to 2020. 2 777 should be out very soon. 1 767 is schedule to be out. you do the math.
amtrakusa is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2018, 3:24 pm
  #1031  
 
Join Date: May 2015
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Originally Posted by dmo580
So 1x 772 per year is the rate we're going at or what? I thought things were supposed to speed up after the first one?
I hope this means they're putting in PE?
oopl is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2018, 7:35 pm
  #1032  
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Originally Posted by EWR764
It's closer to a ten-week mod at this point, so the next ship should be out later in the month. There are currently 3 777s in XMN, and there will be a STC process for the first PE bird as well.
Originally Posted by phkc070408
But we were told one bird every ten days. We're barely at one bird every 30 days.
They do seem to have hit a flat spot.

Originally Posted by amtrakusa
you do the math.
Done. It doesn't pencil. Ten week mod means they would need seven aircraft in at a time to turn one every ten days.
Kacee is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2018, 9:54 pm
  #1033  
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
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Originally Posted by phkc070408
I wonder what the holdup is in getting N651UA out of HKG and into service. It looks like N647UA was going to be next but they cancelled the run to HKG

N647UA FlightAware
Looks like the test hop for N651UA is now scheduled for 6JUN as UA2694. Fingers crossed cause it's time to get her stateside to a United hub!

PacificClipper is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2018, 10:43 pm
  #1034  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
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Originally Posted by phkc070408
But we were told one bird every ten days. We're barely at one bird every 30 days.
They did say that was an average, which includes new aircraft deliveries as well.
N104UA is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2018, 11:03 pm
  #1035  
 
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Originally Posted by PsiFighter37


It wouldn’t be the first time UA overpromised and underdelivered when it came to Polaris.
United = Polaris = Joke. Get it? Joke is on paying UAL customers who believe anything they say. UAL sucks, and sucks completely.
rowingman is offline  


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