United Airlines’ most premium plane ever is here and ready for takeoff — and it’s fully equipped with the next era of its Polaris business-class cabin.
Inside a hangar in Los Angeles on Tuesday, the Chicago-based carrier took the proverbial wrapper off its brand-new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in one of the more anticipated new-aircraft reveals in the airline’s history.
This plane sports what United is calling its “Elevated” interior — an all-new flagship international cabin with new seating products in every section of the plane.
Headlining this upscale Dreamliner is a massive business-class cabin that sports a whopping 64 lie-flat suites — each with a sliding privacy door.
Eight of the 64 Polaris suites on board are the carrier’s extra-spacious “Polaris Studios,” which will serve as the most high-end seats United will offer going forward.
All told, it’s the biggest bet — among many — that United has made in doubling down on travelers’ willingness to pay for high-end seats (or book them with their miles).
Will it work? Passengers will get their first glimpse at the aircraft in the coming days on some domestic flights — before this plane sets its sights on Singapore next month.
Before then, TPG got a sneak peek at this spiffy jet.
Here’s a look!
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United’s new Polaris business-class cabin
United’s new Elevated 787-9 actually features two Polaris business-class cabins; when you climb on board, you’ll see lie-flat seats to both your left and right.
This aircraft boasts United’s next-generation Polaris suites and marks the airline’s first foray into offering enclosed privacy suites — something Delta Air Lines currently offers in its Delta One business-class product and American Airlines began to debut last year on some planes.
The 56 standard Polaris suites are equipped with 19-inch 4K screens and a variety of high-tech bells and whistles (like four different ways to power electronic devices).
Note that the suites are arranged so that you can select either aisle- or window-facing pods, which might be ideal (or not) depending on whether you’re traveling with a companion or flying solo.
Polaris Studios
The most memorable product on these aircraft, though, is the enhanced Polaris Studios, which are arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration in the first row of the plane — and the first row of the second business-class cabin.
Likely a popular feature for couples traveling together: If you book the center two Polaris Studios, you can transform the lie-flat seats into a de facto double bed.
That’s on top of a buddy seat to allow traveling companions to dine together, which TPG’s Summer Hull and I tried out on board.
These studio suites have an enormous 27-inch entertainment screen. And landing one of these seats (here’s how much extra it costs) will get you some luxe upgrades like exclusive pajamas, a caviar amuse-bouche course and — oh yeah — a tarmac transfer to the aircraft.
TPG’s coverage of United Airlines’ recent announcements:
Refreshed Premium Plus cabin
In the middle of the plane, United’s new Elevated 787-9 includes a revamped Premium Plus (premium economy) cabin.
There are 35 of these recliners arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration across five rows. These seats have privacy dividers, reading lights, and legrests and footrests.
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There are 99 total premium seats between the Polaris and Premium Plus cabins. That’s a 43% jump from other jets of the same size that United flies today.
Main cabin with big seatback screens
Finally, the main cabin got an upgrade on this new plane, too — including 13-inch 4K seatback screens that United claims are the biggest in economy in the world.
Speaking of tech, as you might expect, each seat (and seatback screen) on this aircraft will be capable of connecting to Bluetooth headphones like AirPods.
Thirty-three of the 123 seats in coach are United’s extra-legroom Economy Plus seats. That means a mere 40% of the seats on this plane, which seats 222 passengers, are standard coach seats — a sign of just how posh the aircraft skews.
Where will United’s Elevated 787 fly?
After some initial domestic flights over the next few weeks, United is launching its 787-9 Elevated aircraft on service from its San Francisco International Airport (SFO) hub to Singapore on April 22.
Right after that, on April 29, the plane will jet off from SFO to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR).
Expect the aircraft on a lot more routes in the coming months: United said it expects to take delivery of 20 of these planes in 2026.
Tuesday’s unveiling of this plane came on the same day the carrier announced a host of other fleet upgrades, including an upscale new Polaris-equipped Airbus A321 “Coastliner” that will fly some of its top transcontinental routes beginning later this year.
And the carrier will debut a new, first-class-heavy regional jet configuration this fall that might soon be the fanciest regional jet in America.
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Stacie Harris is a local resident and reporter of the Maple Grove area. Stacie reports on medicine and science for the Maple Grove Report.
