United Airlines is ditching more economy seats in favor of larger premium cabins

Los Angeles – United AirlinesFormula for higher profits: fewer seats but better.

The country’s second most profitable airline is after that Delta Airlines The company on Tuesday unveiled new cabin designs, including some of its smaller planes, which feature more premium seating options and fewer in standard coaches.

The differences in airfare prices for those seats can be vast. For example, a flight between United’s hub at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and San Francisco in the first week of May costs $423 in a regular coach and $5,556 in the carrier’s Polaris first class coach class Boeing 757.

Even with the spike in fuel prices, United executives have said in recent weeks that demand remains strong, noting that demand for premium travel has outpaced main cabin.

“Main cabin is also improving, and we saw very strong demand across the board for United in the first quarter, but premium led the way again this quarter, and continues to do so,” Andrew Nocella, United’s chief commercial officer, told reporters last week.

United plans to introduce a subfleet of narrow-body Airbus A321neo jets dubbed “Coastliner” for intercontinental flights that will feature 20 Polaris seats, which can recline beds. Every Polaris seat will have aisle access.

These aircraft will also have 12 seats in premium economy and 36 seats with extra legroom on board, with the rest in regular economy. United said it removed three seats from the plane’s standard configuration to install a snack bar at the back of the plane.

The aircraft’s current designs do not feature premium economy, but have 57 extra legroom seats and 123 standard economy seats, along with 20 first-class seats, not Polaris lie-flat seats.

The first Coastliners will begin flying this summer and will have 40 of them by the beginning of 2028, United said.

The airline also announced configurations for its longer-range Airbus A321XLR aircraft, which will replace some of its older Boeing 757 aircraft. This layout also includes 20 Polaris suites, 12 premium economy seats and 34 extra legroom seats. The plane will debut this summer, and United said it could operate on some of its existing routes to Spain, France, Portugal and Brazil.

United will also add a seven-seat first-class cabin to its Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft for a total of 41 seats on board, compared to the current 51-seat layout, which has just one cabin.

The changes are part of an ongoing trend of airlines allocating more scarce onboard real estate to premium seats, as growth from those upscale options outpaces sales from regular economy.

Last year, United unveiled an upgraded Polaris suite for long-haul flights on its Boeing 787 Dreamliners that includes a “Polaris Studio,” which is larger than previous models and has 27-inch 4K displays as well as a guest ottoman.

Delta, United’s main competitor, said it expects premium revenue to exceed main cabin sales this year. The airline said last month that from May, the first of seven new Airbus A321neo aircraft will have 44 first class seats, more than double the usual 20 seats.

Demand has been so high for the new luxury suites and other premium seating that the supply chain cannot keep up. CNBC reported that the bottlenecks delayed the delivery of the planes.

Delta said the A321neo’s large first-class cabin is a mid-range measure, “intended to be in service for a limited period as Delta awaits delivery of the flat wings that will eventually be installed on these aircraft.”

Meanwhile, United has been eyeing lie-flat seats for some of its newer narrow-body jets for years.

CEO Scott Kirby told reporters in August 2018 that the carrier plans to offer lie-flat seats on new Boeing 737 MAX 10 planes, even though that plane has not yet been certified and is years behind schedule.

Other airlines are also adding upscale seating.

JetBlue Airlineswhich pioneered offering lie-flat seats and wings on its fleet of narrow-body Airbus aircraft, plans to introduce a less elaborate domestic first class cabin later this year. Southwest Airlines It recently debuted extra-legroom seats on its fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft, ending decades of standard seating throughout its cabin.

Budget airlines Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines It also plans to add more spacious seating.