United Airlines will replace its 747-400s with three-cabin 777-200ERs on its flagships Los Angeles/San Francisco-Sydney routes starting next spring. Other changes include a 787 on the San Francisco-Osaka route (currently a mix between the 747 and 777) and the return of the 747 to Chicago to serve Tokyo Narita.
In an internal memo to United employees, United explained why it will bring the 747 back to Chicago after clustering its 747 base in San Francisco last year:
Last year we decided to move all of this flying to SFO to improve the reliability of this fleet. Now that reliability has been restored, and we have a plan in place to better support the fleet, we can put the 747 on the routes that are better suited for the number of passengers the 747 carries.
Changes should be loaded and bookable this Saturday, but it appears the 747s will fly routes that do a W pattern, such as SFO – FRA – ORD – NRT – SFO, so we may see London or Frankfurt to Chicago on the 747 as well.
Regarding the Sydney route, the three-cabin 777s from SFO and LAX to SYD will operated by legacy United crews and marks a further reduction in capacity on a route that has not seen a sale price all year. Economy passengers will appreciate audio/video on-demand at each seat, but one downside will be the loss of premium seats. BusinessFirst drops to 40 (from 52), and GlobalFirst drops to 8 (from 12). Those buying premium seats will be unaffected, but for those trying to upgrade…a tough route will be even harder.
My concern is internet–how soon will the 777s be equipped with it? Although the 747s lack personal IFE at each seat in economy, making for a boring flight if you don’t fancy the four movies United screens on large monitors in the front of each cabin, the 747s serving Australia are equipped with internet onboard and I know I speak for many when I say I’d much rather be connected for the 14hour flight then be able to watch the movies and listen to the music of my choice.
There is also some concern over the 777s ability to reach Sydney without having to make frequent “technical stops” in Honolulu or Nadi, Fiji for fuel. United and Boeing claim this will not be a problem–in fact, they assert the 777-200ER can haul more cargo than the 747-400 even when the plane is full of passengers and bags . I am skeptical–you cannot compare these 777ERs to the 777LR aircraft that Delta and Air Canada use to fly from the west coast to Sydney and we’ve seen with United’s transatlantic 757-200s that overly rosy estimates about range has resulted in frequent stops in Gander, Newfoundland for more fuel. But on the upside, the frequent mechanical problems that plague these Sydney flights should be a thing of the past.
I am happy to see that legacy United crews will still operate the Sydney routes, but hope that the new equipment will not lead to an era of $3,000 coach fares on this route. With a weakened Australia dollar dampening demand on Aussie holidays to the U.S. and Singapore’s relentless effort to serve Los Angeles to Sydney, I trust an eventual increase in capacity coupled with diminished demand will keep prices in check.
dont plan on flying United that often, even on united miles, I rather book on alliance airlines, even if its a longer route.
I will be sad to see the 777 on the LAX-SYD/MEL routes as it was always great to be on the upperdeck for that flight. I cleared upgrades on my flight last month and will be headed back there in a couple weeks on an award ticket so I will need to make the most of the 747.
Typo 777-300LR? Think you ment 777-200LR at least in the Delta example
@Del: Indeed! Thanks for the correction.
I think there’s a big point being missed here: N171UA was one of the first 747-400’s delivered in 1989, and several others came in the early 90’s – in other words a good chunk of the 747’s in the United fleet are fast approaching 25 years old.
If UAL really cared about long-term reliability on these higher capacity routes “suited for the number of passengers the 747 carries”, shouldn’t they be looking at following the lead of carriers such as:
*Cathay Pacific – phasing out their 744’s in favor of the 777-300ER
*Lufthansa – swapping 747-400’s for the A380 and the 747-8I
*Singapore Airlines – completely retiring the Megatop for the A380
Granted, I realize no US flagged carrier will ever opt for the A380. The 350’s United has on order have impressive range, (350-900R will be able to in theory fly New York to Sydney non-stop, fully loaded.) That said, capacity wise, these are not true replacements for the 747-400, whether that’s what UA intends them for or not. I personally think the 748I could be a great addition to the fleet, and IIRC it’s a common type rating with the 744, so retraining for pilots would be minimal.
Matt, the first sentence of the last paragraph says “I am happy to see that legacy United crews will stop operate the Sydney routes”. Did you mean that you’re glad that they will still operate the routes?
Dumb move — if 95% of airlines fly 747/A380 west coast to Australia, who would wanna fly a 777? Meanwhile, they waste 787s to LOS.
@Joe: Virgin Australia does, and their onboard product is very highly regarded.
And so does Air New Zealand (well okay they fly to Auckland as opposed to Sydney/Melbourne but close enough). Point is if the service and hard product are good, it could be on a narrowbody for all I care – case and point: J on the pmCO 752’s.
@Dub: yes indeed. Thanks!
And Delta and Air Canada use the 777 as well.
Can’t wait for the 777 service. The 747 had kept me off United. Love the newly configured UA 777 cabin.
The UAL 777-200ER will be a better product than the 747-400 and the range of the 777 is greater than that of the 747 (7725 on the 777-200ER vs 7260 on the 747-400) so “technical stops” will not be an issue. Further, the 777-200ER P&W engines are no longer derated for United on this route.
I am looking forward to flying United on this route once the 747s are removed.
Singapore can get f*@#+d.
The only airlines that should fly between Australia and North America are airlines OF Australia and North Ameria.
I will miss B747-400. I always trip to Australia. I love to see big jumbo 747-400.
I will sad to gone 747-400…:-(