As United Airlines transitions from a 767-300 to a 757-200 on its premium transcontinental service between the West Coast and New York JFK, I eulogize the loss of my mobile office and express hope I will see it again.
My Office Is A 767-300 Traveling Between New York And Los Angeles At 37,000 Feet
When United resumed service between Los Angeles (LAX) / San Francisco (SFO) and New York (JFK), it utilized its premium-heavy Boeing 767-300 aircraft, which includes:
- 46 business class seats
- 22 premium economy seats
- 47 extra legroom economy seats
- 52 economy class seats
But effective today, those 767-300s have been pulled and United now utilizes Boeing 757-200s on the route, which includes:
- 16 business class seats
- 0 premium economy seats
- 45 extra legroom economy seats
- 108 economy class seats
I’ve reviewed the 757-200 here. While the lie-flat seat in business class is comfortable enough, there is not direct aisle access for window seat customers. There is also no premium economy section and economy class, arranged in a 3-3 configuration instead of a 2-3-2 configuration, feels much tighter. These aircraft, holdovers from the Continental era, are also very much showing their age.
This is not about trimming overall passenger capacity. United is trading its 167-seat 767s for its 169-seat 757s, actually adding two seats. Rather, this move totally reorients the focus from premium service (41% of seats on the 767) to economy class (91% of seats are economy class on the 757-200, a notoriously bad ratio for upgrades).
> Read More: United Airlines Faces JFK Dilemma
The good news for United is that it should mark the end of the era of easy upgrades and open seats in business class. At the same time, I expect United will lose some passengers on this route as long as it is operated by a 757-200, including me.
Since LAX-JFK service began, I’ve taken this flight at least once a month, only to turn right around and fly from JFK-LAX. I’ve even written about it before…without fail, it is an extremely productive time.
And while I realize I can just as easily go to the library or even reserve a hotel room for the day, I find that nothing increases my productivity more than being in the air in a spacious, private business class seat.
So I will greatly miss the 767 and hope it returns in the spring. I will miss the Polaris seat and the laughably easy upgrades. I will miss the 7:30am departure and 7:00pm return from JFK, allowing me sleep in my own bed after 11 hours on a plane and three hours at JFK.
And United’s food has even come a long way. Back in April, this was meal service onboard:
This is it today:
And there’s even a plated pre-arrival snack in both directions:
So my stomach is more content too.
CONCLUSION
Today is bittersweet for me. Perhaps “was” is more appropriate than “is” in the title. The 767-300 was my office…but hopefully it will be again.
If you have not tried spending a day on an airplane working, I encourage you to do so – it is productive and it’s a lot of fun!
I do agree with you on this….
Sad, the 767 will be missed for sure
Wouldn’t it be strange if the LAX-JFK trip was the same day or next day after arrival from El Salvador?
Agent 1: Where are you going?
Matthew: New York JFK
Agent 1: Why (or similar)
Matthew: (explaining that he is going from Fort Lauderdale to JFK via Brazil and El Salvador and LAX)
—
I, too, can get work done on a plane. Since I am not a flight blogger and can reduce my Covid exposure risks, I have made a simulated plane setup. The window is close by. I have a small table in front of me. I can microwave a little dinner to simulate airline food or quickly cook a meal.
@ Matthew — I couldn’t disagree more. I absolutely hate working on a plane, and I only sit up front,
You don’t find the distractions far less?
@ Matthew — At a minimum, I use a 15″ laptop, HP 12C calculator, old-fashioned (wireless) mouse and an 8.5 x 11 tablet of ruled paper for my work, so I just find the table too small. Swiss First is about he only exception.
And who wants to work if you are flying SWISS First?! 😉
Is that a sundae ? When did that come back ?
Current meal looks better than AA. An actual salad and edible roll
Yes! Sorbet with toppings is back (this was mango…not my favorite, but I appreciated the effort). The pretzel roll is also heated and hot. Pre-arrival snack is served on small plates, but quite substantial.
I don’t like flying this much.
Matthew – where are you w/LT miles? Know you are a MM – but are you 2MM yet? Are you mapping out a plan to try to get to 3 or even 4?
Only about 3/5 the way to 2MM. Would love to be a 4MMer, but I’m not sure it is practical and I don’t trust UA to keep the current program intact.
I love drinking too much in premium cabins to be productive at this stage in my life. But I can see how United’s pod seats in particular really enable higher productivity
I flew one of the United International 757-200 planes yesterday in Economy Class from Newark to Chicago-ORD (the plane was tugged over from Terminal B to Terminal C at Newark beacuse it had just arrived from Iceland) and they are definately showing their age.
First, I couldn’t belive how early they ran out of overhead bin space, it felt like it happened before anyone who wasn’t elite was allowed to board, they even made a United Express pilot gate check his bag. We were fine with this because we were connecting to a Regional Jet and when we arrived in South Bend our checked bags arrived before the gate checked ones (they decided to use the regular baggage claim for everything since it was raining).
After boarding, we found potato chips our seat pockets, which probably violates USDA protocals since the previous flight was an International Flight, Next the Inflight Entertainment system was working as we boarded before it crashed when they tried to screen the safety briefing requiring them to do the briefing manually, they were able to reset the system once we were airborne (nothing like watching old school coputer code show a bar under “loading fonts” on each screen), the overall screen felt very clucky and like a 1st-generation touch screen from more than 10 years ago, which I think it was. I guess I should be greatful to have an IFE screen on United at all, flight from ORD to EWR had the armrest Direct TV system which is very hard for me and my partner to both use since we have to fly with the armrest up between us because of our sizes.
Only saving grace is these planes definately have slightly more legroom and more comfortable seats than the domestic ex-United 757 versions that were ‘upgraded’ to slimline seats, that we had one of our most uncomfortable flights on back in November 2019, and will now avoid.
I did two elite challenges with both American and United over the summer. I have four upcoming flights that are day trips for my 50 state challenge. If I find a cheap flight now, with elite status, it is much more enjoyable especially on American, where I like the method of getting an upgrade especially on the transcontinental flights using 777s.
It’s a lamentable but understandable choice by United.
My JFK-LAX return leg a week ago got swapped for one of the few remaining pre-refurb 767-300s. Wasn’t happy at all, but the Polaris bird was only about 3/5th full, three days out from departure. So I get it, but it still sucks.
LAX/JFK on UA is pretty much dead to me until they bring back the 763s. I’ll deal with the hassle of EWR for the better seat.
LAX-JFK might be pretty much dead to United, too… there is no guarantee they’ll be able to retain slots and I am hearing far less optimism from people in leadership at the company about the JFK operation than I was, for instance, 6 months ago.
I don’t expect it, but don’t be surprised if United has to pull out of JFK again.
Sorry to hear this about JFK. I was hoping UA would continue to be able to use slots (or reclaim its own slots that it leased out in 2015).
Even this article may be premature – I noticed the 757-200 from LAX-JFK went out with open seats in business class yesterday afternoon, even with only 16 seats!
Yep…. By no means a done deal, but United is trying to pull any levers it can to dig up some prime time JFK slots. Even politically!
Thus far, no avail, and everyone knows a 2x/day schedule to LAX/SFO isn’t competitive. It could be merged into a 4x JFK-SFO, but UA wants a LAX service at JFK, too. Time will tell.
Reliability has been a problem two, with a tight aircraft rotation using the 76L.
Hey Matthew, I have noticed on the United app when you go to the amenities tab on flight status it now shows snacks for purchase in economy on shorter flights such as LAX-DEN.
Is buy on board back on shorter flights? I am very sick of the cheese enchiladas and chicken and they usually don’t have a snack box on board, so hopefully this will fix that if it is indeed back.
I am not fully sure how it works, but I think it might be based on hub vs non hub instead of time.
For example:
LAX-DEN
United First: Lunch
United Economy: Snacks available for purchase
SNA-DEN
United First: Snack
United Economy: Snacks available for purchase
These flights are essential the same time, so why does it differ? I think because of LAX and DEN both being hubs. Probably has more snack options on the LAX-DEN flight too.
I flew one of the 757’s this past summer in ‘business class’ and it was awful. As someone who is tall at 6’4″, I really don’t have a lot of choice on which part of the plane I can sit. As I imagine most people who read this blog do, I book almost all of my travel based upon the plane being flown, and the seats it offers. After my trip this summer I will do all in my power to never fly another 757, and especially waste the money charged for a business class seat.
What routes are the 767’s moving too?
UA increasing LHR service and MCO-EWR (of all routes…)
MCO-EWR is the classic CO EWR ‘tag’ route for widebodies coming off international – seems to be the sweet spot for maximizing utiization between TATL runs
“If you have not tired spending a day on an airplane working, I encourage you to do so – it is productive and it’s a lot of fun!”
Stop pressuring us to fly! You are putting stress on me!
I too enjoy working from the air and agree with you that the time can be incredibly productive when given the space, comfort and privacy of a large business class seat/suite. Even through the pandemic I requalified twice for AA EP status, and did so before the close of September in 2020 and this year.
All that said, my travel has a purpose (i.e., I need to actually be IN New York/Boston/Miami/Montreal/Chicago, etc., etc.) and I find the airtime being a great opportunity to complete work I’d otherwise fall behind on. However, given the accelerating pace of climate change it’s inappropriate to criss-cross the country monthly in business class just for the “fun” of it. I too enjoy business class and acknowledge that I’m a part of the problem and somewhat hypocritical. With my 35″ inseam and two herniated lumbar discs I avoid AA’s 31 inch pitch economy seats like the plague.
I suggest you to leave the airport on your next trip to New York and talk to folks about how the weather there has become a huge liability for large swaths of Manhattan. From your LA home, please go up to Big Bear and see if you can find any snow in late March, or drive up to Sequoia in August and count the smoke plumes from the wildfires. Try Northern California or Reno and see how the 750 aqi feels. Go to Tahoe and see how the ski resorts are projecting this year, and next year to go. Read up on the death of the North Atlantic Current and what that means for your kids’ future.
Don’t mischaracterize this commentary as “travel shaming” – far from it. I racked up 400k miles last year. Just try to at least travel with a purpose and consider how such frivolous behavior worsens a problem that we’re all obligated to find a solution for. You might try the library from time to time.
…and thank you for hearing me out on this. I respect that dissenting opinions are heard.
I too lament the end of the nice seats on this service. I don’t have any sympathy for your needlessly taking up premium seats from people who actually have a reason to travel and also (circuitously, I admit) increasing carbon emissions by artificially increasing demand on a route.
The sad thing is every single flight (every last one) went out with open seats in Polaris…hence the equipment downgrade. Sadly, I didn’t take anyone’s seat…