I'm looking for some information on United's current fleet of 777-200s, and please bear with me as I don't fully understand all of the differences/terminology...
For starters, what's the difference between a 772 and a 772ER, other than that the letters stand for Extended Range?

UA has this useful tool, but it's missing some info - like which ones are domestic and which are international? Looks like First and Business Class are now called "Polaris" and with different seats (lie-flats?), for whatever reason...
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/conten ... fault.aspx

Going off the above list, these are my "educated guesses"...
Version 1 - International with 1st Class and seatback IFE.
Version 2 - International, sans 1st Class, Business only with seatback IFE.
Version 3 and 4 - Domestic, and these appear to be almost identical! (Other than and extra lav and row of seats??) What's the difference, exactly? No seatback IFE in these.
Version 5 - Domestic, but some sort of different configuration and with seatback IFE ?

What about registration numbers for each of these - does such a listing exist of which versions have what registration numbers, and how many of each?
Information on the above for 747-400s might be nice as well - info on 767-300s seems much more cut and dry on UA's site...just domestic and international!?

AlnessW wrote:

I'm looking for some information on United's current fleet of 777-200s, and please bear with me as I don't fully understand all of the differences/terminology...
For starters, what's the difference between a 772 and a 772ER, other than that the letters stand for Extended Range?

Check this out https://sites.google.com/site/unitedfleetsite/home, and most of your questions should be answered.

AlnessW wrote:

I'm looking for some information on United's current fleet of 777-200s, and please bear with me as I don't fully understand all of the differences/terminology...
For starters, what's the difference between a 772 and a 772ER, other than that the letters stand for Extended Range?

UA has this useful tool, but it's missing some info - like which ones are domestic and which are international? Looks like First and Business Class are now called "Polaris" and with different seats (lie-flats?), for whatever reason...
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/conten ... fault.aspx

Going off the above list, these are my "educated guesses"...
Version 1 - International with 1st Class and seatback IFE.
Version 2 - International, sans 1st Class, Business only with seatback IFE.
Version 3 and 4 - Domestic, and these appear to be almost identical! (Other than and extra lav and row of seats??) What's the difference, exactly? No seatback IFE in these.
Version 5 - Domestic, but some sort of different configuration and with seatback IFE ?

What about registration numbers for each of these - does such a listing exist of which versions have what registration numbers, and how many of each?
Information on the above for 747-400s might be nice as well - info on 767-300s seems much more cut and dry on UA's site...just domestic and international!?

I can answer some of these:
1. United uses most, if not all of the "ER" variants of the 777's on international routes due to their significant range increase in comparison with a regular 772.
2. United uses most of the non "ER" variants, the regular 772's, on domestic routes with a lot of frequency, which basically means all of their hub to hub service, as well as Hawaii. For example, if you look at their website, they have a few daily 772's scheduled from EWR-SFO, IAH-ORD, and to and from Hawaii.
3. In terms of registration and engine types, registrations without the "UA" at the end are pre-merger continental aircraft, and some of them have GE90's. The 777's with UA at the end of the registration are pre-merger United metal, and most are the ER variant.
4. The domestic layout for the non ER's is pretty much a high density layout, similar to some domestic Asian 777's.

AlnessW wrote:

I'm looking for some information on United's current fleet of 777-200s, and please bear with me as I don't fully understand all of the differences/terminology...
For starters, what's the difference between a 772 and a 772ER, other than that the letters stand for Extended Range?

UA has this useful tool, but it's missing some info - like which ones are domestic and which are international? Looks like First and Business Class are now called "Polaris" and with different seats (lie-flats?), for whatever reason...
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/conten ... fault.aspx

Going off the above list, these are my "educated guesses"...
Version 1 - International with 1st Class and seatback IFE.
Version 2 - International, sans 1st Class, Business only with seatback IFE.
Version 3 and 4 - Domestic, and these appear to be almost identical! (Other than and extra lav and row of seats??) What's the difference, exactly? No seatback IFE in these.
Version 5 - Domestic, but some sort of different configuration and with seatback IFE ?

What about registration numbers for each of these - does such a listing exist of which versions have what registration numbers, and how many of each?
Information on the above for 747-400s might be nice as well - info on 767-300s seems much more cut and dry on UA's site...just domestic and international!?

UA no longer offers first class on international flights so those seats are sold as Polaris Business class along with the main business class cabin. Polaris is simply the marketing name for UAs international business class so no matter which seat you have its still marketed as Polaris.

Polaris Seats: UAs newest business product with all aisle access.
B/E Diamond: pre merger CO lie flat business class seats that were also retrofitted on some UA aircraft (763 and 752s)
IPTE: pre merger UAs lie flat first and business class seats.

Version 1 777-200ERs (PW powered pre merger United aircraft) (10 aircraft)
These aircraft are in the process of being refitted with new seats in all cabins and will end up in the version 5 configuration. These aircraft have the older IPTE First and Business class seats up front and nose to tail AVOD....long haul international.

Version 2 777-200ER (GE powered pre merger Continental aircraft) (17 aircraft)
These aircraft are in the process of being refitted with new seats in all cabins and will end up in the version 5 configuration. These aircraft have the older B/E Diamond Business class seats up front and nose to tail AVOD.....long haul international.

Version 3 and Version 4 777-200 (PW powered pre merger United aircraft) (19 aircraft)
This is the high density domestic configuration....the difference is simply where the lavatories are....as the seating capacity is the same UA didn't bother moving the lavs in the back when they reconfigured these aircraft out of their previous configuration. The old IPTE seats up front have AVOD but Y just has streaming video.

Version 5 777-200ER (a mix of PW and GE powered UA and CO aircraft) (25 aircraft in service with 3 currently in the shop getting Polaris)
These aircraft are former version 1 and version 2 aircraft that have been retrofitted with the new Polaris business class seat, premium plus and new seats in Y as well. Nose to tail AVOD and are used on long haul international flights.

MO11 wrote:

Check this out https://sites.google.com/site/unitedfleetsite/home, and most of your questions should be answered.

GREAT lead and useful site - thank you for posting that! Indeed, that answers a lot of my questions - meanwhile...

rjmf22 wrote:

I can answer some of these:
1. United uses most, if not all of the "ER" variants of the 777's on international routes due to their significant range increase in comparison with a regular 772.
2. United uses most of the non "ER" variants, the regular 772's, on domestic routes with a lot of frequency, which basically means all of their hub to hub service, as well as Hawaii. For example, if you look at their website, they have a few daily 772's scheduled from EWR-SFO, IAH-ORD, and to and from Hawaii.

This agrees with my research.

rjmf22 wrote:

3. In terms of registration and engine types, registrations without the "UA" at the end are pre-merger continental aircraft, and some of them have GE90's. The 777's with UA at the end of the registration are pre-merger United metal, and most are the ER variant.

Not ALL are though - seems like they still have many "UA registrations" that are domestic, non-ER, and true United metal.

rjmf22 wrote:

4. The domestic layout for the non ER's is pretty much a high density layout, similar to some domestic Asian 777's.

And was that seat layout in Economy always 3-4-3, or has it ever been 3-3-3?

United1 wrote:

UA no longer offers first class on international flights so those seats are sold as Polaris Business class along with the main business class cabin. Polaris is simply the marketing name for UAs international business class so no matter which seat you have its still marketed as Polaris.

Polaris Seats: UAs newest business product with all aisle access.
B/E Diamond: pre merger CO lie flat business class seats that were also retrofitted on some UA aircraft (763 and 752s)
IPTE: pre merger UAs lie flat first and business class seats.

Thank you, United1! So, first off - what happened to Int'l 1st Class? Appreciate the clarifications on seat types, as well...makes much more sense now.

United1 wrote:

Version 1 777-200ERs (PW powered pre merger United aircraft) (10 aircraft)
Version 2 777-200ER (GE powered pre merger Continental aircraft) (17 aircraft)

If I understand correctly - all international, Version 1 is UA metal/PW power, Version 2 is CO metal/GE power each with their own pre-merger 1st Class product (?) and AVOD throughout - BUT are currently being retrofitted to become the latest Version 5. Thus, eventually phasing out ALL of Versions 1/2?

United1 wrote:

Version 3 and Version 4 777-200 (PW powered pre merger United aircraft) (19 aircraft)

So, what WAS their previous configuration exactly? Per my inquiry above, was 3-3-3 seating changed to the current 3-4-3 (or something else)? Indeed, the only difference I spot is location of the aft lavs - do you simply mean that UA ONLY moved them on certain re-configurations...therefore resulting in another version with unchanged lavs? Also, did these ever have overhead CRT monitors before streaming IFE? What about in-flight audio?

United1 wrote:

Version 5 777-200ER (a mix of PW and GE powered UA and CO aircraft) (25 aircraft in service with 3 currently in the shop getting Polaris)

And now, the result of re-configuring Versions 1 and 2...also with adding more seats into Economy, it would appear.

United went from 3 class (pmUA) down to two class. The original “Global First” was a handfull of seats at the front with all aisle access” When they made the move to “Polaris” they switched to newer, all aisle access seats that now are both first and business (eg a two class layout). A wrinkle is that some aircraft now have a separate section that is a lot like domestic narrowbody first class that they are marketing as premium economy.

You are correct in that the 777s used to be 9 abreast in coach and are now 10 abreast, which is borderline insufferable.

I saw you mentioned 747-400’s: those have left the fleet and sadly United no longer flies the type.

Georgetown wrote:

United went from 3 class (pmUA) down to two class. The original “Global First” was a handfull of seats at the front with all aisle access” When they made the move to “Polaris” they switched to newer, all aisle access seats that now are both first and business (eg a two class layout). A wrinkle is that some aircraft now have a separate section that is a lot like domestic narrowbody first class that they are marketing as premium economy.

Wow, interesting - I guess they weren't selling enough First Class seats to make it worthwhile, or are otherwise just trying to simplify things with 2 x classes? Judging by seatmaps, I'm not completely sure what you mean by a "separate section that is a lot like domestic narrowbody 1st Class"...like seats in a separate former-1st Class section being replaced by Polaris Business?

Georgetown wrote:

You are correct in that the 777s used to be 9 abreast in coach and are now 10 abreast, which is borderline insufferable.

"Borderline insufferable" is a strong adjective, albeit pretty accurate... I flew in a Version 3 (I think) across country last year, and by definition it felt like a "high capacity" aircraft as opposed to a "long range" aircraft. Seats were pretty tight, limited cabin service, too many bags onboard, and so on.

Come to think of it - was the 9-abreast 3-3-3 or 2-5-2 for domestic/international?

Georgetown wrote:

I saw you mentioned 747-400’s: those have left the fleet and sadly United no longer flies the type.

Yes, indeed. I saw photos on here of the "Farewell Queen of the Skies" flight. More specifically, back when 744s WERE in service were they in multiple configurations as well? Domestic vs. international?

AlnessW wrote:

Come to think of it - was the 9-abreast 3-3-3 or 2-5-2 for domestic/international?

UA 777-222ERs used to have the glorious 2-5-2 in economy (glorious unless you were in the middle of the 5 anyway).

AlnessW wrote:

MO11 wrote:

Check this out https://sites.google.com/site/unitedfleetsite/home, and most of your questions should be answered.

GREAT lead and useful site - thank you for posting that! Indeed, that answers a lot of my questions - meanwhile...

rjmf22 wrote:

I can answer some of these:
1. United uses most, if not all of the "ER" variants of the 777's on international routes due to their significant range increase in comparison with a regular 772.
2. United uses most of the non "ER" variants, the regular 772's, on domestic routes with a lot of frequency, which basically means all of their hub to hub service, as well as Hawaii. For example, if you look at their website, they have a few daily 772's scheduled from EWR-SFO, IAH-ORD, and to and from Hawaii.

This agrees with my research.

rjmf22 wrote:

3. In terms of registration and engine types, registrations without the "UA" at the end are pre-merger continental aircraft, and some of them have GE90's. The 777's with UA at the end of the registration are pre-merger United metal, and most are the ER variant.

Not ALL are though - seems like they still have many "UA registrations" that are domestic, non-ER, and true United metal.

rjmf22 wrote:

4. The domestic layout for the non ER's is pretty much a high density layout, similar to some domestic Asian 777's.

And was that seat layout in Economy always 3-4-3, or has it ever been 3-3-3?

United1 wrote:

UA no longer offers first class on international flights so those seats are sold as Polaris Business class along with the main business class cabin. Polaris is simply the marketing name for UAs international business class so no matter which seat you have its still marketed as Polaris.

Polaris Seats: UAs newest business product with all aisle access.
B/E Diamond: pre merger CO lie flat business class seats that were also retrofitted on some UA aircraft (763 and 752s)
IPTE: pre merger UAs lie flat first and business class seats.

Thank you, United1! So, first off - what happened to Int'l 1st Class? Appreciate the clarifications on seat types, as well...makes much more sense now.

United1 wrote:

Version 1 777-200ERs (PW powered pre merger United aircraft) (10 aircraft)
Version 2 777-200ER (GE powered pre merger Continental aircraft) (17 aircraft)

If I understand correctly - all international, Version 1 is UA metal/PW power, Version 2 is CO metal/GE power each with their own pre-merger 1st Class product (?) and AVOD throughout - BUT are currently being retrofitted to become the latest Version 5. Thus, eventually phasing out ALL of Versions 1/2?

United1 wrote:

Version 3 and Version 4 777-200 (PW powered pre merger United aircraft) (19 aircraft)

So, what WAS their previous configuration exactly? Per my inquiry above, was 3-3-3 seating changed to the current 3-4-3 (or something else)? Indeed, the only difference I spot is location of the aft lavs - do you simply mean that UA ONLY moved them on certain re-configurations...therefore resulting in another version with unchanged lavs? Also, did these ever have overhead CRT monitors before streaming IFE? What about in-flight audio?

United1 wrote:

Version 5 777-200ER (a mix of PW and GE powered UA and CO aircraft) (25 aircraft in service with 3 currently in the shop getting Polaris)

And now, the result of re-configuring Versions 1 and 2...also with adding more seats into Economy, it would appear.

All ex UA 777s were 2-5-2 in Y. UA switched to 3-3-3 when UA updated to its newest international product that had AVOD in Y introduced several years before merger (version 1 discussed above). Ex CO 777s were always 3-3-3.

And yes, early UA 777s had CRT monitors, and versions 1 and 2 of the current fleet will eventually disappear as they all get converted to version 5.

Yes, indeed. I saw photos on here of the "Farewell Queen of the Skies" flight. More specifically, back when 744s WERE in service were they in multiple configurations as well? Domestic vs. international?

The 747s were, for most of the past 20 years or so, configured all the same except for when fleet was in middle of reconfigurations. There were no domestic 744 configurations. Domestic configured 763s did the bulk of domestic widebody flying (reconfigured into 2 class international planes with CO’s hard product after merger) followed by 772s primarily used for Hawaii.

Regarding the 19 777-200s

13 of them were configured for international use and were flown across the Atlantic for years (first ever 777 service was on one of these aircraft) before being converted for domestic use. These aircraft always had AVOD nose to tail. There were at least 3 different generations of First and Business seats onboard over the years. Coach on these aircraft were in a 2-5-2 configuration before being converted to the current 3-4-3.

6 of them were ordered by UA in 2000 specifically for use between Hawaii and the mainland. These aircraft had overhead video and in seat audio. They had standard domestic first seats in a 2-2-2 configuration and 2-5-2 in coach to start off with. First was swapped out for old business class seats in a 2-3-2 setup for a few years before getting their current configuration.

United1 wrote:

Regarding the 19 777-200s

13 of them were configured for international use and were flown across the Atlantic for years (first ever 777 service was on one of these aircraft) before being converted for domestic use. These aircraft always had AVOD nose to tail. There were at least 3 different generations of First and Business seats onboard over the years. Coach on these aircraft were in a 2-5-2 configuration before being converted to the current 3-4-3.

Minor nitpick but they had PTVs nose to tail. They did not always have AVOD (in fact I think they might not have every gotten AVOD?).

Not to nitpick further, but to the FAA there is no such thing as a 777-200ER - it's a Boeing marketing term. Per the FAA type cert, all 777-200s are -200s. Even the serial number plate on the individual aircraft state "777-222" or "777-224" as applicable for UA or CO built birds.

Polot wrote:

United1 wrote:

Regarding the 19 777-200s

13 of them were configured for international use and were flown across the Atlantic for years (first ever 777 service was on one of these aircraft) before being converted for domestic use. These aircraft always had AVOD nose to tail. There were at least 3 different generations of First and Business seats onboard over the years. Coach on these aircraft were in a 2-5-2 configuration before being converted to the current 3-4-3.

Minor nitpick but they had PTVs nose to tail. They did not always have AVOD (in fact I think they might not have every gotten AVOD?).

Teach me to post so early in the morning

You are right they had nose to tail PTVs which were simply looped movies. First had a Hi 8 (? I think that was the format) player at every seat so those passengers got additional selections. Some of these aircraft had IPTE retrofitted before the merger and those aircraft had AVOD nose to tail as they replaced the Y class seats at that point.

Can someone decode the abbreviations I see floating around here and in the United Fleet thread?

77A is domestic config??
77E????
77W is the 300 ER I think

I’m sure there are others but I can’t think of them now. I thought some of the letters denoted engine manufacturer?

johnclipper wrote:

Not to nitpick further, but to the FAA there is no such thing as a 777-200ER - it's a Boeing marketing term. Per the FAA type cert, all 777-200s are -200s. Even the serial number plate on the individual aircraft state "777-222" or "777-224" as applicable for UA or CO built birds.

The FAA does not use the ER suffix but it's not just a marketing term used by Boeing. There are some substantial differences between the two types (engines, some structural and obviously amount of weight it is certified to carry ect.)

sircygnus wrote:

Can someone decode the abbreviations I see floating around here and in the United Fleet thread?

77A is domestic config??
77E????
77W is the 300 ER I think

I’m sure there are others but I can’t think of them now. I thought some of the letters denoted engine manufacturer?

77A: not necessarily domestic, but these are nom-ER. The first of its kind; standard; letter A for first, standard.

77E: short for 777-200ER.

77W: not sure where the W came from, but yes it’s a 777-300ER. Non-ER 777-300s may be called 773As, so as not to confuse them with 77As (normally designated for the -200).

I believe it's the 77A (domestic V3?) - where they cram 3-4-3 in coach, and 2-4-2 up front - is what they're flying to Hawaii. Not the most comfortable bird in the sky.

United1 wrote:

johnclipper wrote:

Not to nitpick further, but to the FAA there is no such thing as a 777-200ER - it's a Boeing marketing term. Per the FAA type cert, all 777-200s are -200s. Even the serial number plate on the individual aircraft state "777-222" or "777-224" as applicable for UA or CO built birds.

The FAA does not use the ER suffix but it's not just a marketing term used by Boeing. There are some substantial differences between the two types (engines, some structural and obviously amount of weight it is certified to carry ect.)

Yes but its not a model. Its the 777-200 IGW which stands for “increased gross weight.” It used the structural load improvements made for the 777-300 and applied them to the 777-200.

AlnessW wrote:

I'm not completely sure what you mean by a "separate section that is a lot like domestic narrowbody 1st Class"...like seats in a separate former-1st Class section being replaced by Polaris

It’s marketed as United Premium Plus. A quick
Google search will bring it up. It’s a cabin behind Polaris and in front of economy plus. The seats are just recliner chairs similar to the ones encountered on a320s, 737s, etc.

Thanks again everyone for your help - great stuff in here! To clarify a few things...

Overall I'm still not totally sure about various fleet changes over the years, mostly pre-merger UA - am I somewhat on the right track below?

International (Version 1) - originally 2-5-2 with PTVs throughout...then 3-3-3 (??) with AVOD, and now post-merger being converted to 3-4-3.
International (Version 2 CO) - always 3-3-3, now post-merger being converted to 3-4-3.
Domestic (Version 3 and 4) - originally 2-5-2 with overhead monitors/in-seat audio, now post-merger in 3-4-3 with streaming video (always AVOD in 1st class). Why is the lav location on some of these different?

Polot wrote:

The 747s were, for most of the past 20 years or so, configured all the same except for when fleet was in middle of reconfigurations. There were no domestic 744 configurations. Domestic configured 763s did the bulk of domestic widebody flying (reconfigured into 2 class international planes with CO’s hard product after merger) followed by 772s primarily used for Hawaii.

Cool, thanks!!

United1 wrote:

The FAA does not use the ER suffix but it's not just a marketing term used by Boeing. There are some substantial differences between the two types (engines, some structural and obviously amount of weight it is certified to carry ect.)

Right, I recall those are quite different - namely the longer range and structural differences.

CarlosSi wrote:

77A: not necessarily domestic, but these are nom-ER. The first of its kind; standard; letter A for first, standard.

77E: short for 777-200ER.

77W: not sure where the W came from, but yes it’s a 777-300ER. Non-ER 777-300s may be called 773As, so as not to confuse them with 77As (normally designated for the -200).

THANK you!

jaybird wrote:

I believe it's the 77A (domestic V3?) - where they cram 3-4-3 in coach, and 2-4-2 up front - is what they're flying to Hawaii. Not the most comfortable bird in the sky.

Intra-hub flights too, transcontinental, etc. - I flew BOS-SFO on one last year. Like you said, not the most comfortable choice on the market...

Georgetown wrote:

It’s marketed as United Premium Plus. A quick
Google search will bring it up. It’s a cabin behind Polaris and in front of economy plus. The seats are just recliner chairs similar to the ones encountered on a320s, 737s, etc.

Oh, I see that now in Version 5 - "leftover" 1st class seats from Versions 3 and 4 (??) now moved and offered as premium economy?

CarlosSi wrote:

77A: not necessarily domestic, but these are nom-ER. The first of its kind; standard; letter A for first, standard.

77E: short for 777-200ER.

77W: not sure where the W came from, but yes it’s a 777-300ER. Non-ER 777-300s may be called 773As, so as not to confuse them with 77As (normally designated for the -200).

77W comes from IATA. It is the official abbreviation for 777-300ER. The non-ER 777-300 is 773.

AlnessW wrote:

Domestic (Version 3 and 4) - originally 2-5-2 with overhead monitors/in-seat audio, now post-merger in 3-4-3 with streaming video (always AVOD in 1st class). Why is the lav location on some of these different?

I believe (and open to correction) some 772A has always been domestic birds while others are converted from international 3-class birds and hence the difference.

Michael

CarlosSi wrote:

77W: not sure where the W came from, but yes it’s a 777-300ER. Non-ER 777-300s may be called 773As, so as not to confuse them with 77As (normally designated for the -200).

The 777-300ER was originally designated the 777-300IGW (Increased Gross Weight), and I guess IATA abbreviated that to "77W", which is confusing because NOBODY calls it the -300IGW!

RyanairGuru wrote:

CarlosSi wrote:

77W: not sure where the W came from, but yes it’s a 777-300ER. Non-ER 777-300s may be called 773As, so as not to confuse them with 77As (normally designated for the -200).

77W comes from IATA. It is the official abbreviation for 777-300ER. The non-ER 777-300 is 773.

The W construct is from the "ER". E is the fifth letter of our alphabet, and if you count five letters up from R, you get S, T, U, V....... W!

Are there any more UA 777s in 9 abreast format?

I flew a UA 772ER LHR-LAX-LHR in 1998 with no PTVs at all in both ways. As I understand it only a handful of the ERs were delivered without PTVs in Y, these were mainly Hawaii birds so I was a bit unlucky to get one both ways on that long sector.

Ziyulu wrote:

Are there any more UA 777s in 9 abreast format?

All the "Version 1" and "Version 2" 777s are still 3-3-3, and are certainly in service (I just flew in one a few days ago, an ex-CO "Version 2" bird). But once all of them are reconfigure, no, it'll be all 3-4-3 in Y.

A side question - are there any Polaris ("Version 5") 77Es that doesn't have Premium Plus? IIRC those were added after the first few 77Es were converted? (Or was that 77Ws that they later add in those Premium Plus seats to?)

CHRISBA35X wrote:

I flew a UA 772ER LHR-LAX-LHR in 1998 with no PTVs at all in both ways. As I understand it only a handful of the ERs were delivered without PTVs in Y, these were mainly Hawaii birds so I was a bit unlucky to get one both ways on that long sector.

It must have been a 777-200 (non-ER) that you flew since ALL the 777-200/ER had PTVs. Only the 6 non-ER 777-200s did not have PTV. It was extremely rare for those Hawaii 777s to go to LHR but it did happen a few times. Especially from LHR range would have been an issue, not to mention to downgrade passengers in F and C.....

The777Man

zakuivcustom wrote:

Ziyulu wrote:

Are there any more UA 777s in 9 abreast format?

All the "Version 1" and "Version 2" 777s are still 3-3-3, and are certainly in service (I just flew in one a few days ago, an ex-CO "Version 2" bird). But once all of them are reconfigure, no, it'll be all 3-4-3 in Y.

A side question - are there any Polaris ("Version 5") 77Es that doesn't have Premium Plus? IIRC those were added after the first few 77Es were converted? (Or was that 77Ws that they later add in those Premium Plus seats to?)

No; all Polaris configured 777s and 767s have both Polaris and Premium Plus

The 77Ws originally did not have Premium Plus but I think all of them have been reconfigured with Premium Plus now too.

The777Man

The777Man wrote:

zakuivcustom wrote:

Ziyulu wrote:

Are there any more UA 777s in 9 abreast format?

All the "Version 1" and "Version 2" 777s are still 3-3-3, and are certainly in service (I just flew in one a few days ago, an ex-CO "Version 2" bird). But once all of them are reconfigure, no, it'll be all 3-4-3 in Y.

A side question - are there any Polaris ("Version 5") 77Es that doesn't have Premium Plus? IIRC those were added after the first few 77Es were converted? (Or was that 77Ws that they later add in those Premium Plus seats to?)

No; all Polaris configured 777s and 767s have both Polaris and Premium Plus

The 77Ws originally did not have Premium Plus but I think all of them have been reconfigured with Premium Plus now too.

The777Man

Not all 767s that have Polaris have Premium plus. I was on one a few months ago that did not.

https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Unite ... 300_ER.php

I think, please correct me if I’m wrong, but the 77E model is used for the longest routes, EWR-TLV/HKG/BOM, etc.

n92r03 wrote:

I think, please correct me if I’m wrong, but the 77E model is used for the longest routes, EWR-TLV/HKG/BOM, etc.

Those are all scheduled with the 77W. TLV’s additional frequency is operated with a 78J.

Thanks wn676, I forget about them. I should have said prior to the 77W’s joining the fleet...

Looks like EWR-HKG goes back to the 77E in October as I’m on it Oct 31...anyone know if this will stay true and be a 3-3-3 config or will UA extend the 77W, or something else?

JesseCasserly wrote:

The 777-300ER was originally designated the 777-300IGW (Increased Gross Weight), and I guess IATA abbreviated that to "77W", which is confusing because NOBODY calls it the -300IGW!

Oh wow - ha - that IS confusing!

intotheair wrote:

Wow, thank you for that timeline - so cool!!

intotheair wrote:

The birds with version #3 flew international routes in a 3-cabin IPTE configuration (essentially the same as current Version #1) up until ~2015 when UA decided to convert all 19 772As into the current 364-seat domestic version.

Version 4 wasn't originally an international config? Judging off UA's seatmaps, that lav layout looks closer to Version 1/5...

intotheair wrote:

Prior to 2015, the birds that currently have version #4 were domestic with 32 seats in F in a 2-3-2 configuration and 312 in Y in a 2-5-2 layout. That version no longer exists.
So the way it went was:
–Up until the merger, UA had six domestic 772As, with 36 seats in F in a 2-2-2 configuration and 312 Y in a 2-5-2 configuration. The rest of the PMUA 777s (the other 772As and all 77Es) were all international.

Huh..which version (3 or 4) were the original 6 x 77As? It sounds like some had 2-2-2 in 1st while others had 2-3-2...?

intotheair wrote:

–Starting around 2007 was when PMUA introduced the International Premium Traveler Experience (IPTE). That is currently Version #1 on the United site and is currently being phased out. 1-2-1 F, 2-4-2 in J with lie-flat seats, and 3-3-3 in Y. Conversions to IPTE ramped up around the time of the merger, and UA used the old J recliner seats as new F seats on the domestic birds. Also at this time, UA converted three more 772As to domestic, for a total of nine domestic 772As in a 32F/312Y configuration and ten 772As in the IPTE configuration very similar to the 77Es (essentially the same as current Version #1).
–The PMCO fleet was converted to what is currently listed as Version #2 with 2-2-2 lie flats in J and 3-3-3 in Y.

Were BOTH pre-merger UA (Version 1) and pre-merger CO (Version 2) always 3-3-3, or were either of these ever 2-5-2 like the domestic config? Also, did domestic configs not have lie-flats in 1st up until the IPTE conversion/upgrade you mention?

intotheair wrote:

–14 domestic 763s were converted to a 2-cabin international configuration with the CO-style product.

I think you're saying that pre-merger UA had 14 x domestic 763s which have now ALL been converted to international?

intotheair wrote:

–2015: all 19 772As began conversions to the current high density domestic with 3-4-3 in Y, 2-4-2 lie flats in domestic F, and the differing lav layouts in Versions 3 and 4.

I'm still not totally sure either when overhead CRT monitors/in-seat audio in Versions 3/4 was replaced by the all-streaming system in Economy - was that part of the 2015 conversions to high-density? If someone had a photo of the old 2-5-2 config with CRTs, that would be cool as well...

intotheair wrote:

–2016: Polaris introduced with the arrival of the 77W.
–2018: Polaris conversions of international 77Es begin.
Versions 1 and 2 on the UA site are being phased out, eventually leaving versions 3 and 4 (domestic) and version 5 (Polaris international).

Right, hence the ultimate end goal is to have 3 x different configs, only one of which is international.

Also, if I'm not mistaken Versions 3/4 and Versions 5 use the exact same seats in their most current configurations - looking at the photos, they're all 3-4-3 but with a "void" in the seatback (which houses those new clamps) where AVOD goes in the international version.

[By the way, nice profile picture - that's probably one of my favorite mass transit systems on the west coast! ]

Bricktop wrote:

The W construct is from the "ER". E is the fifth letter of our alphabet, and if you count five letters up from R, you get S, T, U, V....... W!

Really? That's actually pretty nifty!

Ziyulu wrote:

Are there any more UA 777s in 9 abreast format?

Only international, it would seem - as domestic configs have been changed fully to 3-4-3. Like zakuivcustom mentioned, both Version 1/2 are still in service but will ultimately be converted to Version 5 with 3-4-3.

The777Man wrote:

It must have been a 777-200 (non-ER) that you flew since ALL the 777-200/ER had PTVs. Only the 6 non-ER 777-200s did not have PTV. It was extremely rare for those Hawaii 777s to go to LHR but it did happen a few times. Especially from LHR range would have been an issue, not to mention to downgrade passengers in F and C.....

Right, it sounds like (per above) that in 1998, 6 x 77As were domestic config sans PTVs - the remaining 10 (?) were all international 77As.

ryanflyer wrote:

Not all 767s that have Polaris have Premium plus. I was on one a few months ago that did not.

Are these seats themselves the pre-merger domestic 1st Class seats in 763s and 77As?

n92r03 wrote:

Looks like EWR-HKG goes back to the 77E in October as I’m on it Oct 31...anyone know if this will stay true and be a 3-3-3 config or will UA extend the 77W, or something else?

Not sure, but what do you mean by "extending the 77W?"

Why did UA phase out 1st/business in favor of Polaris? Merger stuff?

n92r03 wrote:

I think, please correct me if I’m wrong, but the 77E model is used for the longest routes, EWR-TLV/HKG/BOM, etc.

Must be because the only US legacy that has the 777LR is Delta. This, the 200 size but with the 300 IGW wings and engines.

AAIRLINERS wrote:

Must be because the only US legacy that has the 777LR is Delta. This, the 200 size but with the 300 IGW wings and engines.

777-200 Long Range? Same body as a 77E but with components of a 77W? Now I'M confused...

Those domestic 777-200 non ER are getting old. What would replace them? Those A350s are way too much plane to be shuttling domestic passengers. Maybe the 200ERs get pastured to domestic cycles.

The777Man wrote:

CHRISBA35X wrote:

I flew a UA 772ER LHR-LAX-LHR in 1998 with no PTVs at all in both ways. As I understand it only a handful of the ERs were delivered without PTVs in Y, these were mainly Hawaii birds so I was a bit unlucky to get one both ways on that long sector.

It must have been a 777-200 (non-ER) that you flew since ALL the 777-200/ER had PTVs. Only the 6 non-ER 777-200s did not have PTV. It was extremely rare for those Hawaii 777s to go to LHR but it did happen a few times. Especially from LHR range would have been an issue, not to mention to downgrade passengers in F and C.....

The777Man

It was summer so LHR-LAX would have been out of range i think - the flights were about 11 hours. I dont think an A market non-ER could have done it.

My understanding was that they were ERs and from a very small number of UA 772ERs that didnt have PTVs.

CHRISBA35X wrote:

The777Man wrote:

CHRISBA35X wrote:

I flew a UA 772ER LHR-LAX-LHR in 1998 with no PTVs at all in both ways. As I understand it only a handful of the ERs were delivered without PTVs in Y, these were mainly Hawaii birds so I was a bit unlucky to get one both ways on that long sector.

It must have been a 777-200 (non-ER) that you flew since ALL the 777-200/ER had PTVs. Only the 6 non-ER 777-200s did not have PTV. It was extremely rare for those Hawaii 777s to go to LHR but it did happen a few times. Especially from LHR range would have been an issue, not to mention to downgrade passengers in F and C.....

The777Man

It was summer so LHR-LAX would have been out of range i think - the flights were about 11 hours. I dont think an A market non-ER could have done it.

My understanding was that they were ERs and from a very small number of UA 772ERs that didnt have PTVs.

Again, ALL 777-222/ERs had always PTVs. Maybe they didn't work but they were installed in all the ERs.

Some of the "Island 777s" did very very rarely fly LAX-LHR but usually returned to IAD or ORD due to range and routing of the aircraft.

The777Man

The777Man wrote:

CHRISBA35X wrote:

The777Man wrote:

It must have been a 777-200 (non-ER) that you flew since ALL the 777-200/ER had PTVs. Only the 6 non-ER 777-200s did not have PTV. It was extremely rare for those Hawaii 777s to go to LHR but it did happen a few times. Especially from LHR range would have been an issue, not to mention to downgrade passengers in F and C.....

The777Man

It was summer so LHR-LAX would have been out of range i think - the flights were about 11 hours. I dont think an A market non-ER could have done it.

My understanding was that they were ERs and from a very small number of UA 772ERs that didnt have PTVs.

Again, ALL 777-222/ERs had always PTVs. Maybe they didn't work but they were installed in all the ERs.

Some of the "Island 777s" did very very rarely fly LAX-LHR but usually returned to IAD or ORD due to range and routing of the aircraft.

The777Man

Nope, 100% no PTVs - these were 2-5-2 configured in Y with overhead screens only. i know this for absolute fact as it was 1998 and i didnt get on a PTV-equipped plane until a AA A300-605R BOS-LHR in 2000.

So it must have been an A market 772A, which would have to have been right at the ragged edge of its range envelope to do LHR-LAX. I remember it was a boiling hot July day and we had almost an hour taxiing at LHR too. That was a loooooooong flight. It was packed in economy too. I wonder how close we were to having to divert for a fuel stop.

AlnessW wrote:

AAIRLINERS wrote:

Must be because the only US legacy that has the 777LR is Delta. This, the 200 size but with the 300 IGW wings and engines.

777-200 Long Range? Same body as a 77E but with components of a 77W? Now I'M confused...

Basically the 777-200LR has the raked wing tips of the 77W, but it is slightly smaller, so yes 777-200ER size, and lighter with a similar MTOW to the -300ER so it can carry obscene amounts of payload while being able to tank more fuel than a 77W at higher payloads.. It is an over capable aircraft as in you can carry 50t of payload on ULH flights ~15-16hrs, not many airlines need what it can do.

Aceskywalker wrote:

Those domestic 777-200 non ER are getting old. What would replace them? Those A350s are way too much plane to be shuttling domestic passengers. Maybe the 200ERs get pastured to domestic cycles.

For reference, UA's LN 11 (N768UA) has a score of approximately 89,000 hours and 19,000 cycles at the end of 2017 (its last SDR entry), so even at 3000/hr a year utilization (and probably less than 1000 cycles/year) they still have plenty of life in them.

Delete

intotheair wrote:

eamondzhang wrote:

AlnessW wrote:

Domestic (Version 3 and 4) - originally 2-5-2 with overhead monitors/in-seat audio, now post-merger in 3-4-3 with streaming video (always AVOD in 1st class). Why is the lav location on some of these different?

I believe (and open to correction) some 772A has always been domestic birds while others are converted from international 3-class birds and hence the difference.

Michael

Correct. The birds with version #3 flew international routes in a 3-cabin IPTE configuration (essentially the same as current Version #1) up until ~2015 when UA decided to convert all 19 772As into the current 364-seat domestic version.

Prior to 2015, the birds that currently have version #4 were domestic with 32 seats in F in a 2-3-2 configuration and 312 in Y in a 2-5-2 layout. That version no longer exists.

So the way it went was:

–Up until the merger, UA had six domestic 772As, with 36 seats in F in a 2-2-2 configuration and 312 Y in a 2-5-2 configuration. The rest of the PMUA 777s (the other 772As and all 77Es) were all international.
–Starting around 2007 was when PMUA introduced the International Premium Traveler Experience (IPTE). That is currently Version #1 on the United site and is currently being phased out. 1-2-1 F, 2-4-2 in J with lie-flat seats, and 3-3-3 in Y. Conversions to IPTE ramped up around the time of the merger, and UA used the old J recliner seats as new F seats on the domestic birds. Also at this time, UA converted three more 772As to domestic, for a total of nine domestic 772As in a 32F/312Y configuration and ten 772As in the IPTE configuration very similar to the 77Es (essentially the same as current Version #1).
–The PMCO fleet was converted to what is currently listed as Version #2 with 2-2-2 lie flats in J and 3-3-3 in Y.
–14 domestic 763s were converted to a 2-cabin international configuration with the CO-style product.
–2015: all 19 772As began conversions to the current high density domestic with 3-4-3 in Y, 2-4-2 lie flats in domestic F, and the differing lav layouts in Versions 3 and 4.
–2016: Polaris introduced with the arrival of the 77W.
–2018: Polaris conversions of international 77Es begin.

Versions 1 and 2 on the UA site are being phased out, eventually leaving versions 3 and 4 (domestic) and version 5 (Polaris international).

IIRC: the 2015 “new domestic” config started as the “Hawaii” config which modified legacy domestic 772 (none ER) units with new 3-4-3 economy seating, the first United 777 to use 3-4-3. Another first in that Y-class had no IFE and was first “new seat config” to rely solely on streaming Wi-Fi.

About a year later, maybe a bit more, the non-ER 772 IPTE (international) birds were converted/modified into the latest/current domestic config. These previously had 48 layflat seats in a 2-4-2 config and we’re mostly flying IAD and ORD to Europe. The J section was reduced from 48 to 28 seats and used the Hawaii 3-4-3 Y config to keep seating capacity (IIRC) the same as 32 recliner Hawaii birds. This was done by modified the E+ to E ratio.

After these international birds were converted to domestic, the removed 20 J seats from each aircraft were retrofitted to the Hawaii configs to bring them to the latest domestic lay flat standard. 20seats x 10 aircraft is 200 seats total, and 9 aircraft with 28 each need 252. I cannot remember if the 52 extra were purchased or used old spares. Regardless, all non-ER 772’s were in a substantially similar config now. Same seat counts.

They have a slightly different lav config. As it was possible to keep seat counts the same, it didn’t make financial sense to modify the lavs. However, both version 4 and 5 have the same seat count and see scheduled interchangeably.