United Airlines Will Amp Up Boeing 787 Premium Seating, Starting In Frisco
United Airlines has unveiled ultra-premium Polaris seats for its new Boeing 787-9 aircraft
United Airlines, moving to become the leading U.S. airline for super premium travelers, will introduce a new international seating configuration.
United is challenging Delta to become for industry leadership, especially in transatlantic and transpacific. Luxury premium seats are not sold in huge quantities, but they can distinguish an airline.
Historically, United has never seemed quite able to gain full benefit from having the best transatlantic hub in Newark and the best transpacific hub in San Francisco. But under CEO Scott Kirby, the airline is seeking to boost its appeal to premium travelers.
Today, at a Brooklyn press event today, Kirby will show off the new seating configuration called United Polaris Studio, as well as an upgraded menu. Each new 787-9 will have eight of the suites, with seats that are 25% larger than existing United Polaris lie-flat seats.
The first installation will come on routes from San Francisco to Singapore and London Heathrow, both planned for 2026. The new seating will be installed on the 140 Boeing 787-9 aircraft that United expects to receive from the manufacturer, starting at the end of this year, with 27 aircraft expected by 2027. The suites are not expected to be installed on the 77 Boeing 787s currently in United's flight.
San Francisco-Singapore is an 8,486-mile flight that takes 18 hours, flown by United and Singapore Airlines, both Star Alliance members. For United, the SFO-Singapore flight is already highly populated by premium passengers.
The new suites are positioned in the first row of each business class section. They will have privacy doors, an extra ottoman for companions, large 27-inch screens, an extra ottoman seat for companions, new amenity kits with luxury skincare offerings and Ossetra caviar with a wine pairing.
Ossetra caviar is expensive and comes from Ossetra sturgeons. So far this year, United has invested more than $150 million in upgrading food and beverage service, as it seeks to distinguish itself from competitors. United also serves Tillamook ice cream.
'We already deliver a superior international experience and fly to the most places across the Atlantic and Pacific - these new innovations provide a more premium experience overall, give customers even more reasons to choose United, and set our airline up to grow into the next decade and beyond,' said Andrew Nocella, United executive vice president and chief commercial officer, in a prepared statement.
'We never stand still and are always looking for more ways to set ourselves apart from other carriers,' Nocella said.
The new 787s will have eight Polaris studios, 56 Polaris business class suites, 35 seats in premium plus and 90 seats in economy. The current fleet of 787-9s have 48 United Polaris suites, 21 United premium plus seats, 39 economy plus seats and 149 economy seats.
United is currently in the news for the air space problems and Federal Aviation shortcomings at its Newark hub. Late Monday, United emailed its passengers to remind them that it remains safe to fly to Newark, as pilots are trained for the air traffic control communications breakdowns that have recently plagued the airport. While ATC improvements are a long-term goal for the industry, United is taking the lead in calling for the most obvious short-term solution, a cap on operations until other problems are fixed.
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