Hello from Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Shortly, I’ll be flying to Chicago on United’s inaugural commercial flight on the Airbus A321neo. But I just had the chance to tour the new aircraft and want to share some pictures aboard United’s swanky new aircraft.
United Airlines A321neo First Look – Pictures Onboard
I just stepped off United’s new Airbus A321neo, a 200-seat aircraft representing the first new Airbus delivery to United in two decades. She’s a beauty…the cabin, overhead bins, seatback monitors, and mood lighting give the cabin a very modern and luxe appearance that will make this a passenger favorite.
Behind the scenes, high-speed internet brings United on-par with its peers in terms of in-flight connectivity and there are power ports under each seat, USB-A and USB-C chargers in the monitor (plus wireless charging in first class) and wireless Bluetooth connectivity.
The cabin features 20 first class seats (United’s newest generation of domestic first class seats, which have “wings”) and 180 seats in economy class, divided between Economy Plus (57 seats) with extra legroom and standard economy class (123 seats).
First class:
Economy class:
Every overhead bin is intended to stack bags horizontally, with room for 200 large carry-on bags onboard.
My favorite, feature, however, is the onboard mood lighting. It may just be me, but there’s something about it that is both soothing and simultaneously invigorating. The accent feature down the center aisle and in the forward galley is also very elegant.
There’s a self-help snack station in the rear of the aircraft. On flights longer than 800 miles, passengers can help themselves to snacks and drinks during the flight.
CONCLUSION
I hope you enjoyed tour, but enough with the gloating praise. The first flight is coming up and we’ll see what this aircraft is like in-flight.
I had a conversation with United CEO Scott Kirby earlier today, so stay tuned for what I learned plus a full review of the A321neo inaugural flight tomorrow.
Just tell me you didn’t have to wear that hat, lol.
The divider may seem useless to some but it does serve a purpose in separating space into your own. I think it’s a great addition. The whole cabin looks fantastic for a domestic aircraft.
No hat!
Agree that the cabin looks nice. I wonder why airlines don’t put more emphasis on making the cabin look enticing. Surely an easy win for customer satisfaction.
Looks like a great aircraft and a fun event.
As a resident of Central Texas, it always makes me laugh when boots or cowboy hats are used to convey “Texas.” In a city like Houston, or Austin, or Dallas, the only person who would be caught dead in a cowboy hat is surely someone from out of state.
I was thinking the same thing. They look stupid. . .but it is United.
Stupid comment!….but then again it’s you.
It’s not a stupid comment.
The cabin looks nice. Only if they could improve their food, customer service, etc….
Those dividers in first are going to get so damaged so quickly they’re going to regret having them.
I think you might be right.
The last row of seats in first class look very close to the divider, as if eating into the reclining of the seat.
Is it the angle of the camera that give that impression?
Since this is not a hard bulkhead, it will swing if the seat reclines, so the recline is no worse than other seats
I believe the seat back is a hard shell and recline is achieved by sliding forward. I have a flight up there in a week or so and will test it out.
Matt Klint what seat are you in? I’m in 1B
12C. Come say hi!
Will do
Love reading your stuff
Are the bulkhead F seats as uncomfortable as the MAX?
On the MAX, the seat cushions are painful and in the bulkhead, the legroom is so tight, I’ve turned down an upgrade in favor of staying in my emergency exit aisle.
Except for the USB-C charging ports, I think Delta’s A321neo is superior with a better aesthetic and better first class seats. Delta’s A321neo also supports Bluetooth headphones.
That being said, United is catching up to delta domestically and on many international routes is superior to delta.
These seats also have Bluetooth
Delta has had the most inferior international product for many years now. Old junky planes. United and AA have been offering a much elevated product outside the U.S. for a long time now
I agree completely. Delta’s only international product that is better than UA and AA are the A350-900s and A330-900neos equipped with Delta One Suites.
Better aesthetic? Sure. But UA’s seats are better overall, TPG ranked them as better cushioned than Delta’s
United’s is far superior. The IFE quality is 4K, Bluetooth for Economy PAX as well (afaik Bluetooth on DL A21N is First Class only), United’s IFE is also bigger here. Delta’s first seats are only superior for solo travelers, and a hinderance for people travelling together.
What the hell is the pitch on these economy micro seats? Looks like anyone over 5 feet tall will be resting their knees right under their chin. Americans keep getting fatter and these seats keep getting smaller. Lotsa luck.
Too bad those dividers can’t be lowered…otherwise looks like a good product overall.
The SMALL circular partition between the seats? It doesn’t go high enough. you can still feel someone’s breath. It just irritates me to see we are being given high-sugar, processed food, and n0-nutrition snacks.
I hope there are some nutritious nuts at the snack bar. Love Airbus though.
Were there any aviation youtubers on this flight?
None that I recognized. No Cahill, Chui, or Dan.
I saw Ben Wang before the flight. He films such flights for YouTube more as traditional trip reports. I was on Zoom with Cahill Wednesday and he’s on his way around Russia then to South America. I think the somewhat sudden change to this inaugural didn’t work with a few folks preexisting plans.
And it was a real pleasure to meet you Matthew face to face. You seem very genuine and nice to share in the appreciation and excitement of this event.
What a POS. United should go 100% Boeing.
Are you serious? Boeing used to make great airplanes… The B737 is a complete joke – too narrow and cramped… I loved flying Boeing for many years, now I choose Airbus whenever there is an option…
I hope AA execs read this report from Matthew and then take a look at their A321neo. The AA version is an embarrassment to the company.