United Airlines will be updating the remainder of its 767-300 fleet to add Premium Plus, United’s premium economy seat.
United Airlines Will Offer Premium Economy On All 767-300 Aircraft
Currently, United has a fleet of 38 Boeing 767-300 aircraft. That includes 14 “76A” 767-300 aircraft with:
- 30 United Polaris Business seats
- 46 United Economy Plus seats
- 138 United Economy seats
It also has 24 “76L” 767-300s in the “high J” configuration with:
- 46 United Polaris Business seats
- 22 United Premium Plus seats
- 43 United Economy Plus seats
- 56 United Economy seats
Today United Airlines told employees in a memo reviewed by Live and Let’s Fly that Premium Plus will be added to its 14 76A 767-300 aircraft.
Once completed, the entire 767-300 fleet with offer Premium Plus seats and the new configuration will include:
- 30 United Polaris Business seats
- 24 United Premium Plus seats
- 32 United Economy Plus seats
- 113 United Economy seats
This new configuration will be designated as the “76Q” and will also include:
- The addition of a cross aisle forward of United Polaris (more space in front of the first row by flight attendant request, so passengers no longer have to cross the aisle through the front galley)
- New LED passenger reading lights
The first modified aircraft is expected to enter service in late fall 2022. All aircraft are planned to be complete by spring 2023.
United Airlines is also in the process of upgrading its 767-400 fleet to add Polaris seats and Premium Plus. Furthermore, United is in the process of retrofitting its Boeing 789-9 fleet to include Polaris seats and Premium Plus (the 787-8 retrofit is complete and the 787-10 aircraft were delivered with those seats already installed).
Once complete, the entire United longhaul fleet will offer a premium economy section. I’m just speculating here, but once that has been standardized I expect we will see Premium Plus as a separate cabin of service on more domestic routes. Currently, elite members can reserve Premium Plus seats at no extra charge when their flight is operated by a widebody aircraft on a route (usually from hub to hub) that does not offer premium economy service.
Unlike Delta Air Lines, United Airlines offers a vastly upgraded meal service in premium economy.
CONCLUSION
United Airlines will update its remaining 767-300 aircraft to add Premium Plus seating. This retrofit is already underway, with the first aircraft due out in late autumn and the full conversion by next spring.
This may be sad news for elites who no longer will be able to receive premium economy seats for free on select routes, but offers United more flexibility in selling Premium Plus as a separate cabin of service on more routes.
UA should go further and call the front cabin on the non lie flat narrow bodies as premium plus, not first. Use the O, A, R booking codes. This would ensure a consistent standard of service whether up front on narrow bodies or in the PP cabin on widebodies.
Call the lie flats as Business
And give PP its own lav on all aircraft
The only way they’ll do that is if AA, DL, AC, Westjet, and Aeromexico do the same thing.
West Jet already sells their domestic F product as premium economy
United must be seeing good long haul premium cabin returns, because this reconfiguration comes with a substantial cut in Y capacity and no loss of Polaris seats. At 30/24/32/113 it compares favorably to Delta’s DPS-equipped 763ER, which is 26/18/21/151.
Did the memo mention anything about the timeframe of the 767-400 retrofit or finishing the 787-9? I think they should prioritize getting Polaris on all the planes before adding PP to planes that already have Polaris.
Also, per the United Fleet Website, no 767-300 is currently being retrofitted, all are actively flying except 1 which is stored at ROW and expected to be exiting the fleet due to corrosion.
There are, however, 2 767-400s at HKG believed to be there for Polaris mods.
Or better yet, they should prioritize retrofitting their first 30 MAX9s with the NEXT interior to match the rest of United’s MAXex
Agreed, would love to see them start the narrow-body retrofits, but sadly I feel like it’s going to be a while. The 737-800s need a refit BADLY.
It looks like one of United’s 4 remaining outdated 787-9s (N35953) is heading to Asia for Polaris retrofit. N35953 is scheduled to fly from SFO to Asia as one of those UA2xxx flights.
Good eye Dave, I bet this is going out to Asia for Polaris. Glad they are finally finishing these. They paused the 789s refits back in May when the PW 777s were still grounded as they needed all the wide bodies they could get, but hopefully we can get these finished in the next few months now!
They’d better improve the J service or some, including me, may use this instead.
Will the 76Q also get mood lighting?
No. And I know that horrible fluorescent light on the 76Q is the comically bad. Too bad.
I recently flew Premium Plus. It’s a good service at the price point I paid, but wow–the gray fluorescent lighting is so dreary that the whole cabin feels depressing. I get it that they don’t want to pay for mood lighting, but it should be relatively easy to switch the tubes to “soft white,” which is used almost everywhere except maybe morgues. (The gray light and the blue upholstery does actually feel a little dead, and that’s throughout all the cabins and the whole fleet.)
The new cabin scheme that United introduced in 2016 was meant to have moodlighting, and that’s why it looks ugly without. Meanwhile, the previous cabin scheme from Continental didn’t need moodlighting because the blue sidewalls and baby blue panels are what made the cabin distinctive.
the whole back of the plane is basically premium economy. i was look at UA flights from EWR to GVA in march and there are only 3 rows for regular economy passengers. i was like why would i pay 200 a person for a coach seat i can get for free on every other us based airline. I like UA but this is crazy. i know they would not configure the plane like that unless the seats where selling but it is still irritating that those of use who can afford regular economy but not premium get the same shit seats as the basic economy people.
UA service in economy last time i flew was very good so i would fly UA more but not with those seat options. unlike most fliers who expect 5* restaurant quality dining and a hotel bed. i am a minimalist. give me a good seat with 30-31 in of pitch and free water or soda/juice and get where i am going safely and i am good. So why pay 800 more per trip on UA when i can save that fly another carrier and spend that 800 on souvenirs and stuff.
Again i understand why UA is doing but that does not mean i have to agree or be happy with it.
Daniel, the GVA flights are operated by the premium heavy 767, and I know what you are saying, but I think that is actually a good thing.
If I were you, I would book that flight, and NOT select a seat. The odds are the regular economy seats will fill up with other people, and when it gets close to the flight time, you will automatically be assigned in economy plus without having to pay for it cause those are the only seats left.
I have a few coworkers who use this strategy a lot on the LHR flights with this plane, and it usually works quite well.
So are the 76L with the 46 Polaris seats going down to 30 Polaris seats? It’s an upgrade for the other aircraft that need to be retrofitted, but I think they should leave this aircraft on premium LH routes alone. Going from 46 to 30 is a major downgrade, along with the less economy plus seats, and many more economy seats, from 56 to 113, if I’m reading the article correctly. The 76A is great for high density routes, but premium routes, not so much. Thanks for any input!
No, the 76Ls will not be touched. Only the 76As will be converted to 76Qs.
How do you keep track of all these different 76 names lol
Okay thank you! Got a bit worried there! I know, first world problems, but I fly on my mom’s retiree flight benefits as an enrolled friend, and didn’t want to see the 46 Polaris seats reduced 🙂
I hate these seats, They do not have enough leg room. The foot peg (not a foot rest) is tiny and you may be able to get a single toe on it but that is all. The rigidity of the sees also make them very uncomfortable. They feel narrower than a regular coach seat with all the metal for the tray table and storage space that is added. Now way to shift a bit side ways at all. When Offered these I ask for Economy plus instead.
In other news, UA is looking to order widebodues from Boeing or Airbus to replace their 777-200s and 767s. I’m hoping that they don’t order A350 now that Airbus is redesigning the A350 sidewalls so more airlines put in seats that are narrower than on United’s 777s (let alone 10 abreast on a 777x)
Source?
https://airlineweekly.com/2022/08/united-eyes-airbus-and-boeing-jets-for-first-widebody-order-in-4-years/
I’m still stumbling over this statement:
“Unlike Delta Air Lines, United Airlines offers a vastly upgraded meal service in premium economy.”
Ugh. Worst inflight meals. Ever.
ALL Polaris planes will have 4 seating arrangements – (Polaris, UPP, E+, and Econ). What was wrong with FC, Biz, E+, and Econ?
United needs to add the Polaris seat and the new economy seat to the 777-200 with the large economy cabin used on Hawaiian routes.