United Continental Holding’s new Polaris business class seats are so unique, there’s a patent on them.
That’s because every business-class seat is on the aisle, yet United won’t lose any ticket-selling spots. Such updates are part of the airline’s strategy to find $1 billion in additional revenues just from selling seats. The other? Adding more seats to its economy class.
“Trying to find more unique ways to put more revenue on a plane is something the industry has been driven to do,” Oscar Munoz, United’s CEO, told The Denver Post on Monday. “We value all our customers equally but there are different price points for everyone.”
Airlines went through a series of mergers and are now competing heavily at all price levels, by upgrading amenities at the high end and lowering prices but charging fees elsewhere. Last week, budget-carrier Frontier Airlines lowered the fee it charges so parents can sit next to their children. Air Canada frequent fliers accumulate just 25 percent of miles traveled if they book the cheapest tickets, Economy Tango. United plans to add more Economy Plus seats with more legroom to its cabin, too.
But where one market is price sensitive, the other is forcing innovation to attract higher-paying travelers.
“They are leaps and bounds from where they were a few years ago. They have money to invest and most of that is in the front-end of the plane, where business travelers are,” said Jami Counter, vice president of TripAdvisor Flights and SeatGuru.
“A general rule of thumb is international airlines had a better product and service experience,” he said. “That is somewhat changing now. U.S. carriers are on par with most European airlines but they’re not going to get to the lavish amounts of money that Emirates and Singapore (Airlines) or Cathay Pacific are at. I don’t think U.S. airlines want to compete at that level because it will be a money-losing experience for them.”
But United in particular is behind, said Helane Becker, managing director at investment banker Cowen and Company. Delta and American and many international lines already have some all-aisle seating in first class.
“They (United) spent the better part of the last decade in bankruptcy and not investing in the business. And then they did the merger with Continental (in 2010). They’ve been playing catch up since that period of time,” Becker said. “It’s important that they are making this investment. And I think business travelers will like it. It will help them take the product to the next level.”
By contrast, most U.S. airlines are competing in the “last class,” the bare-bones service where everything is stripped away and if you want it — drinks, a window seat, more leg room and even airline miles — you must pay for it, Counter said.
United spent more than three years rethinking business class, said Maria Walter, United’s managing director of product and brand strategy. But United didn’t want to sacrifice a row or more of seats just to give passengers direct access to the aisle.
“Losing that many seats is hundreds of millions of revenue for United,” Walter said. “We didn’t want to go down that path.”
Instead, United tapped Acumen, the design consultant behind the first flat-bed seat for British Airways in 1996. Acumen staggered seating so every passenger has access to the aisle, whether a dinner tray is slid out or a seat is fully reclined 180 degrees.
On Monday at the Global Business Travel Association convention in Denver, United showed off Polaris. The new seat looks like a private cubicle with a 16-inch touchscreen display, power outlets, a side table and cubby to stash personal items. There’s also a do-not-disturb button to help flight attendants know when passengers don’t want to be awakened for food or other services.
United will convert all existing business-class seats on its “north of 300 aircraft” to the new style by 2021, Walter said. It also plans to do away with its higher-end Global First class because the new seating stretches the same length — 6 1/2 feet long and 23-inches wide.
“We have the same exact number of (business-class) seats and we haven’t compromised at all on (first-class) dimensions,” she said.
United is Acumen’s exclusive user for five years so the same seating geometry won’t start popping up at other airlines soon. United expects delivery of the new seats in December and plans to have its first 777-300 aircraft flying a few months later. The new business-class seating, as well as new bathrooms and galley areas, will be rolled out to the rest of its fleet by 2021 so all planes will have a standard facilities.
While it’s going to take time for the new seats to be installed in all planes, the Polaris service begins in December for business travelers. That includes luscious amenities like pillow misters from posh bath-brand Cowshed, Sak’s Fifth Avenue bedding and Temper-Pedic pillows with cooling gel. Instead of taking drink orders, flight attendants will roll carts offering custom Bloody Mary mixes in the morning and wine tasting in the evenings.
United is also adding a Polaris Lounge exclusively for those users in nine locations, starting with Chicago in December. Denver isn’t on the list.
“That’s an open question,” Walter said. “(Denver) is not in the plan but never say never.”
UPDATED on July 20: This story has been updated to clarify Jami Counter’s distinction between business class and the more competitive economy segment among U.S. airlines.
