TBA
United Airlines
United's launch of their new A321XLR aircraft and their spring 2027 route announcement at Hangar 54 at Newark Liberty International Airport was a much smaller event than United Elevated was back in the spring, but still a big deal, with Scott Kirby (CEO), Patrick Quayle (Senior Vice President, Global Network and Alliances), Andrew Nocella (Chief Commercial Officer), Jon Gooda (Vice President, Newark Airport), and Maggie Schmerin (Chief Advertising Officer) all present from the airline. N64321, United's first Airbus A321XLR, towered over the event itself, held inside an air conditioned hangar at EWR, and speeches were kept quite short, focused on the success of the Newark hub, the new airplane and the new seats/passenger experience inside, as well as the ten (!) entirely new destinations and four routes to existing destinations for spring 2027.
Add in the gaggle of media, influencers, United employees, and a handful of frequent fliers who decided to spend their frequent flier miles to attend the event, and it was a rather intense three hours on a Tuesday morning. Not even sure I could do justice trying to name all of the influencers and media present, let alone just the smaller subset I'd met on previous flights, so not even sure I should try (!).
New destinations are covered in detail (The Points Guy, One Mile At A Time, etc.) elsewhere, but the focus on smaller European destinations, particularly with the 7 to 9 hour range of the A321XLR, was entirely expected, yet the actual destinations were mostly a pleasant surprise. Both Newark Airport to Ljubljana (EWR-LJU) in Slovenia as well Newark to Luxembourg (EWR-LUX) seemed to gather quite a bit of excitement, and seeing a second destination from Newark to the Azores (Terceira (EWR-TER)) was quite a surprise. On the other side of the world, brand-new service from San Francisco to Okinawa, Japan (SFO-OKA) was the most exciting news by far for most frequent fliers. The additional routes to existing destinations (DEN-CDG, LAX-KIX, SFO-TLV, IAD-MXP) were less exciting but no less welcome, including some rare love for the black sheep hub, aka LAX.
Many other destinations seem appealing, but as said, I will defer to the media for their analysis on that. I can only say that from the prices we're currently seeing for the inaugural flights of these new routes, it is eye-wateringly expensive. *sigh*
As far as the new aircraft itself, the Airbus A321XLR is very closely related to the A321neo that United already flies, modified for longer range with an integral rear center tank (RCT). The cabin, instead of the typical 20 domestic recliners in first class, is a new configuration with 20 lie-flat business class seats, 12 premium economy seats, and 120 (err, 118) economy seats-- 34 in economy plus and 84 in economy.
The 20 Polaris seats, pitched at 32", and with the now-standard 19" 4K OLED Panasonic Astrova screens, are in a herringbone layout, which means you face alway from the windows. Unfortunately going to a reverse herringbone meant fitting few seats, so that battle was unfortunately won by revenue management. The shoulder room is pretty good, better than the Polaris Elevate (nee Polaris 2.0) on the new 787-9's currently being delivered, and overall comfort is pretty good. The color scheme feels very dark grey, especially when the door is closed, but privacy is pretty good, there is ample charging (AC, USB-C, and wireless), and storage is not bad. Will have to actually fly it for a more complete evaluation, and there are some complaints the design feels a bit dated -- the screen release, coat hangar, and the remote control layouts all feel less sleek than they should on a brand-new aircraft. The airbag seat belt and shoulder harness at every seat also are a sign that they had to go through some extra lengths for crash certification. For those paying attention, the FAA has been taking a very long time to certify new seat designs, so that seems to be a safe guess as to why.
The 12 Premium Plus seats are the tried-and-true Collins MiQ seats that seemingly every airline uses as a domestic first class or international premium economy seat. A wing/divider between seats for increased privacy is a thing now, wireless charging, USB-C power, and AC power all all present, and the 16" 4K OLED screens are pretty nice. There's an adjustable leg rest for each seat, and the United-Airlines-standard-pitch of 38" means that recline is limited to only 5.5" so you don't squish the row behind you-- but consequently Premium Plus is a great deal less comfortable than some competing airlines with greater pitch and greater recline. Still, leg room in the Premium Plus bulkhead seats is excellent, and if you don't want to feel bad about reclining into the row behind you, the last row of Premium Plus has no one directly behind, plus an angled wall that still lets them recline.
Unfortunately I forgot to check the under-seat storage situation-- will have to rectrify that next time.
Economy probably has the least change from the current A321neo's that United has been flying. True, there's one row where the middle seat is blocked (aka United's take on Eurobusiness) as that reduces the seat count just enough to give United the option to operate the A321XLR with one fewer (3 minimum) flight attendants, but the rest is pretty similar. Economy Plus' bulkhead row has terrific leg room, the same 13" 4K OLED screens, and both USB-C and AC power. Alas, with only 34 E+ seats, those tend to fill-up fast, at least for inaugural flights, while the tighter-pitched Economy seats (30" in Economy vs. 33" in E+) are decidedly less comfortable. At least the chosen color palatte works better in Premium Plus and in Economy than it does in Polaris.
The Up Front by John Walton has nice analysis of the interior, for those who want a more detailed breakdown.
United also had demonstrations of their smartphone app, the seatback in-flight entertainment (IFE), and supposedly representative cuisine from each of the new destinations available to try. With 10 new destinations, no way I could have stomach space to try them all, but I can say the Spanish tortilla (representing Valencia) was very good. Not quite as sure what to say about the scrambled eggs (Okinawa) or the eggs benedict (Marseille), but at least those were better than the dry and overcooked chicken skewers (Terceira piri piri chicken). Wasted some stomach space earlier with food apparently called "Polaris" for breakfast-- smoked salmon open-faced bagel sandwiches were pretty but not too memorable, and yogurt parfait is, to be honest, hard to get wrong. Somehow doubt we'll see either of those served on-board, at least not in the form served at the event.
In the end, quite a satisifying morning. Some exciting new routes coming up for Spring 2027, and lovely to get a proper first-hand look at the new Airbus A321XLR in United's fleet. Great to see so many familiar faces as well, along with many new ones, and to see everyone so excited for what is to come.