Xw3q5

I'm scheduled to fly in J from HNL to SFO at the end of next month. It is a red eye, which I was okay with because it was a wide body with lie flat seats. I booked the flight a few months ago when it was a Polaris layout 787, and since then, United has made a couple of equipment changes. It went to an older layout J cabin (2-4-2), then back to a Polaris layout, but now it shows it is a 737. Each time, United kept separating my girlfriend and I. I got to digging on Flightaware and other sites, and noticed that all the historical and future flights for the next 2 weeks are 777s. After about 2 weeks out, its showing as 737s.

Does anyone know what equipment United will likely use for this flight? Will they switch it to the 777 they are flying now, or are they actually converting this flight to 737s going forward? If they switch it to a widebody, are they using the 737 as a placeholder, and if so, do they do this on a lot of domestic routes?

WineCountryUA

Does any one here know, no.

The issue is likely due to the scheduled return of the UA 2-4-2 772 fleet which traditional have been primarily for Hawai'i. They have been out of service due to an engine issue from last year. The issue has been resolved and they will be returning to service soon, originally it was plan in April, the latest date now is mid-May. Assuming UA stays to the mid-May, then it can be used for your flight. However, in the meantime UA is scrambling until it gets those 772s back into service. If the 772s do not return as presently plan, it will likely be fairly dynamic, scheduling what is available.

evol

This issue is very much relevant to my interests. Part of me thought they were gone for good. Are you flying after May 25?

See below a quote found by googling the topic: CNBC accessed an internal note sent by United Airlines to its pilots, saying,
“Due to the delay in the return of our PW777 aircraft to active service, the May flight schedule is being reconfigured to account for the lack of these aircraft. [The grounded aircraft are] being removed from the schedule through May 12 and removed from international/Hawaii routes through May 25,”
https://simpleflying.com/united-airl...ing-777-delay/

HNLbasedFlyer

HNL-SFO red-eye is usually always a 777 - however, me personally - if the flight you are looking at shows a 737, I'd assume they are flying a 737

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Unless the 772HDs come back, I'd assume the 737 also. Looks like UA is hedging its bets on the return by only selling the capacity of a 737 right now. The closer it gets to departure date, the less likely UA will swap in a bigger a/c since tourists usually book farther in advance, along w/ hotels and rental cars. UA could swap in a 753 at some point, I guess - w/o the return of the 772HDs, it might be more likely than a wide-body as those are going towards expanding the European schedule.

If you end up on a 737 in F, some comfort might be gained by knowing you're not flying E- HNL-EWR overnight

After years of redeyes from Hawaii w/ lots of 737s/753s (primarily from Maui), I'm sticking to morning flights now that I'm in Honolulu, unless it's HNL to EWR/IAD/IAH/ORD.

HNLbasedFlyer

I usually always take the 777 red eye connecting to LAX or SFO, what I'm not liking at all is UA moving those red eyes to 9:15pm meaning you arrive very early and my connections to LAS whether it be SFO or LAX are now over 3 hours.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

7am HNL-SFO gets me into LAS late afternoon/early evening and lack of lie-flat not as concerning.

HNLbasedFlyer

The HD issues are wreaking havoc on the 7am flight - on June 7, they are only expensive J or full Y and B fares on a wide open plane. Don't even see it on the 8th or 9th......

bioyuki

Subscribing to this thread as I'm also flying HNL-SFO over the summer in F, right now scheduled for 772HDs. Will be my first time back in dormitory class in many years if the fleet actually reactivates in time.

nomad420

Just curious is the OP allowed any compensation for this change? I know when I have had similar last minute equipment changes from a lie-flat to say a 737 on a redeye I got compensation immediately.

HNLbasedFlyer

You get a free change - but no money due - UA prices the Hawaii lie flats the same as non lie flats.

Kacee

The fare structure is the same, but UA tends to be tighter with the discount inventory on the lie-flats, so as a practical matter it's often cheaper to fly the 737 in F.

DELee

Welcome to FlyerTalk Xw3q5 !

As others have noted, no - only UA's planners and schedulers. Only time will tell this summer when and if the 777HDs return.

David