Polaris pod seating with alternating row seat arrangement goes domestic first, then transpac (Photo: Scott Hintz)
United Airlines has revealed the initial schedule for introduction of the 777-300ERs equipped with its new Polaris business class cabin, and San Francisco figures prominently in the rollout.
The first scheduled service of a Polaris-equipped 777-300ER will be on a domestic route, linking United’s San Francisco and Newark Liberty International hubs. The new aircraft will fly six days a week from February 16 through May 4, the airline said.
On March 25, the new aircraft will make its international scheduled service debut, replacing a 747-400 on the very competitive San Francisco-Hong Kong route, where Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific both offer non-stop service.
Seatmap of United’s newest bird: The Boeing 777-300ER CLICK for details
The Boeing 777-300ER will have 60 business class seats— that’s up from around 50 in its 747s and 777-200s. Both Economy Plus and regular economy seating will be 10-across, configured 3-4-3. Economy Plus will offer 34 inches of pitch vs. 31 inches for regular economy. Currently, United’s 777s are 9 across in economy class.
But United Polaris flyers in SFO won’t get the full experience when the new 777-300ER lands there– a spokesperson tells TravelSkills that phase 1 of the Polaris lounge will be complete by midyear, with the lounge renovation complete by the end of 2017. More details on the SFO lounge scene here.
The new Polaris business class provides seating in a “suite-like pod,” United said, with direct aisle access for all passengers. Seats recline 180 degrees, and are 6 feet 6 inches long and 23 inches wide, with one-touch lumbar support, A/C power, two USB ports, a 16-inch high-def video screen, privacy dividers for the middle seats, mood lighting, and an electronic “do not disturb” sign. The front cabin also has a marble-topped bar where passengers can get drinks and snacks.
Polaris seat storage cubby, noise cancelling headphones, and power ports, amenity kit (Photo: Scott Hintz)
United said it expects to put all 14 of its new 777-300ERs into service during 2017. The aircraft will be configured with 60 Polaris business class seats in a 1-2-1 layout; 102 Economy Plus seats; and 204 regular economy seats.
No word yet on what the other Polaris outfitted routes will be.
Satellite Wi-Fi will be available for purchase, and the economy cabin will offer on-demand entertainment via seatback screens or streaming to personal electronic devices.
United this month started to deploy the new Polaris amenities and services for its business class flyers; here’s a post we ran last month detailing the changes. Of course, the full effect of Polaris won’t be felt until the new seats debut in February.
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Agree with some of this but United for the last ten years has done everything possible to cut cost at our expense. United should make a profit but they have gone too far in making the flying experience one of the worst experience for us all. What I hate is that they feed us this BS on a new service and how great it is. But again it’s aim at trying to get even more money out of us. Just wish that United would figure out a way to give us more for just a little bit instead of giving us less for a lot more.
Your narrow view on United belies that the same Economy seating is the norm on almost all airlines now. United is a business and tries to make profit, and the public consumer base is largely unwilling to pay premiums for better seats, preferring as inexpensive a seat as possible to get them from point A to point B. Until the public is willing to pay more for better seats, the airlines will continue to offer the cheapest seats with the least space and benefit. The consumers get what the consumers will pay for ultimately.
This is a joke and something that we should scold United for. It’s like selling us software years before it’s ready. United has hyped this that we think it will be in place by next month. In reality it won’t even be 50% completed by this time next year.
Second what will be the pricing of this??? I bet that it will be someplace between present day first class and business class so it will be very dear for the average person to afford. For myself if I have to pay over $3,000 round trip from Washington to London, it’s out of my price range and I will fly economy plus on British or Virgin which is between first class and coach. The point is it’s a more humane way to fly.
For those that are use to coach on United now, they are in for a very unpleasant surprise. On top of the new thin seats, which are very uncomfortable especially on flights over 4 hours, be prepared for each row to add a seat, so the width of seats will be even smaller and more uncomfortable.
So your choice will be a very comfortable seat out of most people’s price range or a seat in coach that we can afford, but again making a very crappy, terrible flight for all.
Nice going United in again screwing us with more uncomfortable things.
3-4-3? As someone who flies economy far more often than business…goddddd damn it.