Wow: United Plans 787s With New Polaris Seats, Ultra-Premium Configuration

For a long time, we’ve heard about United Airlines potentially introducing new Polaris business class seats on some upcoming aircraft deliveries. We’re starting to get a sense of what that will look, with United planning on configuring some 787s in an ultra-premium layout, with an all-new passenger experience.

United plans 787-9s with 64 Polaris business class seats

United already has a massive fleet of 75+ Boeing 787s, and the airline has an additional 140+ of these aircraft on order, which will be used for fleet renewal over the next decade or so. It appears that with some of United’s upcoming 787-9 deliveries, the airline plans to introduce an uber-premium configuration, with just 222 seats, as flagged by @xJonNYC. Specifically, the planes are expected to feature:

• 64 Polaris business class seats, spread across 16 rows, in a 1-2-1 configuration; eight of those will be “business class plus” seats
• 35 Premium Plus premium economy seats, spread across five rows, in a 2-3-2 configuration
• 123 economy seats, spread across 15 rows, in a 3-3-3 configuration; 39 of those will be Economy Plus extra legroom seats

For context on the layout, the area between the first and second set of doors will feature 32 business class seats, then the space between the second and third set of doors will feature 32 business class seats and 35 premium economy seats, and then the space between the third and fourth set of doors will feature 123 economy seats.

UA some will have seen this (and many are asking about it) My belief is that the statement: “New 787-9 (78L) configuration with 64/35/123 has been released to employees.” is false, nothing has been shared internally so far is what I’m told . Id expect some announcements in early May though.

[image or embed]— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) April 19, 2025 at 2:39 PM

LET ME RETRACT the part about it being false that this has been disseminated — sorry for that error! Bulkhead Polaris seats having ottomans (for a companion to dine, etc etc— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) April 19, 2025 at 6:32 PM

United’s current 787-9s are already among the most premium configured of any US airline, with 257 seats, including 48 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, and 188 economy seats. In other words, this new configuration would see 16 extra business class seats, 14 extra premium economy seats, and 65 fewer economy seats.

United already has the largest long haul business class cabins of any US airline, on average, but this would really take it to the next level. These planes would presumably be pretty versatile, long term:

• On one end of the spectrum, the premium configuration will allow for even more range, given the lower weight of the aircraft
• On the other end of the spectrum, some of these 787-9s are expected to eventually replace the premium 767-300ERs that United operates, to markets like London (LHR), where the range isn’t necessarily needed, but the premium demand is there

United plans new Polaris business class seats

United’s Polaris business class isn’t the world’s most exciting product, but the airline does deserve points for consistency, since you know exactly what seat you’re going to get when boarding a long haul, international United flight. We’ve known for some time that United plans to introduce a new business class product with doors, though details have been limited.

The expectation is that these premium configured 787-9s will be the first to feature the new Polaris business class product. United hasn’t officially announced any details of what the new product will be, though the airline did push out a picture of the seat map internally, and I have some guesses based on that.

The seat map shows:

• The forward business class cabin has a consistent reverse herringbone layout, with the window seats facing toward the windows, and the center seats facing toward one another
• The rear business class cabin has a mixed reverse herringbone and herringbone layout, with the window seats facing toward the windows, and the center seats facing toward the aisles

I’m not sure I fully understand the logic for alternating the layout in that way, but I think based on that, it’s highly likely that United’s new Polaris business class product will be the Adient Ascent seat, which you’ll find on Qatar Airways 787-9s, Hawaiian 787-9s, and soon on newly delivered American 787-9s. That’s because the Adient Ascent product is one of the only ones that’s customizable where the center seats can face in either direction.

Personally I rank this as being among the better business class seats out there, but not the best. It’s an efficient configuration that gets all the basics right. We also know that United has been planning a front row “business class plus” product with its new Polaris, and American has similar plans, as that’s possible with this configuration.

Again, I could be on the totally wrong track, but I feel pretty confident that this is the case. It’s interesting to think that both American and United are selecting identical business class products.

Bottom line

We know that United is planning on introducing a new Polaris business class product, and we’re now getting more of a sense of what seat the airline could select, and when it will be introduced. It would appear that some upcoming 787-9 deliveries will feature a very premium configuration, with a total of just 222 seats, including 64 Polaris business class seats.

While nothing has been officially announced, I’m putting my money on United selecting the Adient Ascent product as its new Polaris business class seat, based on the clues so far. I imagine there’s going to be an official announcement in the not-too-distant future, so stay tuned…

What do you make of United’s new Polaris plans, and premium 787-9s?