drewguy

Do the slimlines eliminate the seat pocket that can be used for storage? The flexibility of that has always created the feeling of more knee room for me.

drewguy

They may eliminate the closet in Row 41, and make the last row a full 6 across (row 44 presumably).

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Yeah, but knowing United, they'll eliminate a lavatory in order to reduce maintenance. Why just add 10% seats (or whatever) when you can also reduce coach cabin lavs by 25%? United's thinking: "It's not like they (the coach passengers) have anywhere else to go (or go)".

hoshattack

I love the idea of making WAS-SFO and EWR-SEA have lie-flats especially for the red-eyes, but sadly the current UA management doesn't seem interested in doing much (in any reasonable time). It's definitely a shame, since the 753s would have a much lower ratio of J to Y than the 752s if they are worried about the relative strength of premium cabin demand.

WineCountryUA

Converting 753s to lie-flats would greatly reduce the F cabin from 24 to 14-16 seats. It would be hard to replace that decreased revenue. F fares would need to rise by 65-75%. The sCO 752s have 16F cabin but they were originally justified for TATL fares, not domestic fares. To convert the 752 in a similiar manner for domestic runs, would reduce the 753 fleet revenue potential, likely not an attractive idea for UA.

drvannostren

I've quite liked my UA 757 rides for the most part, I KNOW some of them have been 752, not sure if I've flown 753 or not. That being said, as a capitalist (though not a shareholder in United) I can't fault them for this at all. I'm AMAZED that they can squeeze 20 more seats (the article indicates 31 more, are some of those J?) without ruining the width/pitch, then I'm all for it. I don't love the slimline seats, no one does, and I liked that the 752s at least had AVOD, but again this is a positive change for the company, so I can't complain.

yul36

I think the loss of the closet in row 41 is a given. Don't think they will split the J cabin, so losing a row of e+ is a possibility, the rest will prob come from the diff between the current seats to slimline. Just theories.

drvannostren

That's was I'm thinking, I hadn't thought the of the closet, but between the E+ and the natural differences in size with the slimline seats, I agree with you. Again, I think it's pretty positive. Maybe not for my butt, but in general. I don't find them to be all that uncomfortable tbh, but I'm almost always in Y so all the seats are uncomfortable to a certain extent. Except maybe the barka loungers I sat in on the flight (MU) between PVG-CRK...they looked like chairs your dad would have in his cabin in the woods. Nice for the butt, but they held the heat in like crazy.

sbm12

LOPA (not officially acknowledged by UA, but I believe it likely accurate) here:

Lose a galley at 2R, lav at 3L and closet at 4R. Plus 3 exit rows for two windows.
It is not just about a ratio but also the overall demand. Dropping 50 extra Y seats in on those routes hurts yields.

minnyfly

From a business perspective, this change is overdue. UA's 753 has been an outlier in lower density. Hopefully the net result isn't significantly less comfortable.

DL didn't upgrade to pivot bins in the 757-300, only the -200. Why not, I don't know.

EWR764

halls120

This will rival the 777HD for that honor. Sure, let's add 20 more seats, don't add any extra bin space, and remove a lav. What could possibly go wrong?

Somewhere, SMI/J is happy, because his plan to make the customer experience worse is alive and well.

spin88

Delta's version has 210 Y, with 5 1/2 rows of C+ (with 34" pitch) and 4 lavs for Y. UA currently has 189 Y, with 61/2 rows of 35" E+, and 4 lavs for Y. I guess UA has a choice here, do they go with 3 lavs and keep more E+ seats, or do they go with a very similar configuration to DL, cutting out one row of E+?

I guess I don't have the same issues with slimming this plane that I do with the 10x on the 777, or other classic UA cheap-outs. My guess is that UA goes with 34" pitch in E+, likely with one less row. Not the end of the world. I would be more concerned about removing a lav, only three for 210 people is not a pleasant thought on a 5+ hour flight to Hawaii, which is where these birds get used a lot.

the big difference is that E+ remains ok on this plane - it will be basically the 737 but with IFE (assuming UA does not pull it...)

CALMSP

dissapointing this is what the configuration is moving to. Just glad it didn't go back to the 12F we did years ago on the CO side with these birds. (also along the time we reduced the 735 from 10 to 8).

amtrakusa