Look out for Polaris-style salt and pepper globes on your upcoming United Airlines flight in domestic first class, affectionately (or derisively) called the “Death Star” by frequent flyers.
United’s Polaris “Death Star” Salt And Pepper Shakers Are Headed To Domestic First Class
A flight attendant sent me a short memo about a recent change in salt and pepper provisioning on domestic flights:
Salt and pepper globes: Starting May 15, while supplies last, we’ll use the salt and pepper globes on mainline domestic premium cabin over 900 miles departing from hub kitchens (excluding ORD, SH Hawaii and PS Transcon flights).
I realize that salt and pepper shakers are not exactly breaking news…but I’m just mentioning it because I find it’s an interesting and practical way for United to exhaust what it probably has a big leftover supply of. When United updated its Polaris soft product last year, it switched to a three-tiered spice container with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes:
The memo says PS (premium transcontinental service) flights are excluded and that’s because they already use the “new” salt and pepper containers are now branded as Polaris. Chicago O’Hare is excluded because the supply has already run out there.
For those unfamiliar, the globes looked like this and were called “Death Star” becuase of their resemblance to the moon-sized space station and superweapon constructed by the Galactic Empire in the Star Wars franchise.
These “Death Star” globes are not quite the collector’s items that the salt and pepper “airplane” shakers are on Virgin Atlantic, but date back to the first iteration of Polaris, which debuted in 2016.
So keep an eye out for them and if you see them, now you know why…
Actually dates back to late 2016. December 1st 2016! I remember day one!
Who cares.
I do…
I do as well so thank you for sharing this bit of news. Suppose this means those little salt and pepper packets will be going away. Looking forward to using these little globes on my next flight.
Same here. Caring is cool.
Well kid, grammar cares and since there is no question mark we presume you do also, as you took the time to click, read, and make a feckless posting! Ergo, thanks…?
While they’re not yet old enough to be considered a source of positive nostalgia, it will be nice to see them again on relevant flights.
For aviation enthusiasts → Among frequent flyers, the nickname “Death Star” is also used as a humorous doodle or nickname for the CO originated blue globe logo on the UA’s tail design.
I was on the Island Hopper today (16/17), and they weren’t there. So presumably Majuro counts as Short Haul Hawaii.
Had them last night on IAH-ORD. Was surprised/thought it was funny. Food was pretty good. Thanks for posting, makes a lot more sense now.
Salt and pepper shakers feels practically archaic to me, like some throwback to hundreds of years ago when these were premium “spices”. How much salt or pepper do people really feel obligated to add to their food for already prepared dishes? I don’t touch them, feels like a waste of already very limited tray real estate. Would much prefer if they offered something even slightly more adventurous to add-garlic, chili oil, smoked paprika, hot sauce, balsamic vinegar etc.
Slow news day?
It’s a niche topic, but I thought it was interesting.
Weren’t they originally meant to represent golf balls? United had a whole golf theme going on for a little while back then.
I think they were always meant to represent the (Continental Airlines) globe.