Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.So how’s United’s Polaris rollout coming along? Heh… we’re getting there. Slowly.More than three years have now passed since United CEO Oscar Munoz unveiled the carrier’s much-improved business-class product. This week, Patrick Quayle, UA’s Vice President of International Network, confirmed that the carrier is on track to hit a major milestone by the end of 2019.Polaris business class on United’s “high-J” 767-300ER. Photo by Zach Honig / The Points Guy.Come December, United expects to offer the new Polaris seats on half of its wide-body fleet — some 100 planes in total, including new additions, like the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, and retrofitted aircraft, such as the “high-J” 767-300ER.The first retrofitted 787-8 Dreamliner is expected to return to service in December as well. The first 787-9 with the new seats — the longer-range version used for some of United’s most premium routes, like San Francisco (SFO)-Singapore (SIN) and Newark (EWR)-Cape Town (CPT) — will follow a few months later.United’s “dorm-style” business class will soon be no more — except on a handful of regional 777s. Photo by Zach Griff / The Points Guy.Quayle pointed out that roughly one-third of United’s existing fleet has now gone through the retrofit process — new deliveries make up the remaining aircraft. Eventually, most of United’s roughly 200 wide-body planes will offer the new seats, though some 777-200s, used for domestic and regional flights, are expected to continue operating with the carrier’s dated 2-4-2 product — not-so-affectionately referred to as “dorm-style” business class by frequent flyers.
