United Airlines will make 100 incoming Airbus A321 deliveries its most premium-oriented narrowbody aircraft. The planes will be divided evenly among 50 A321XLRs and 50 A321neos.
The A321XLRs, which are a long-range variant of the A321neo, will operate on routes to Europe and South America, offering 20 Polaris business-class seats with privacy doors and 12 premium economy seats. The aircraft will have a snack bar in the back of the plane.
In total the A321XLRs will have 150 seats. Last year, American became the first U.S. airline to fly the A321XLR. Those planes have 20 Flagship business-class suites, 20 premium economy seats and a total seat count of 163.
United will call its premium standard-range A321neo configuration the Coastliner, and will use those planes on transcontinental routes connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles with the New York area. It too will have 20 business-class pods alongside 12 premium economy seats. Coastliners will also have a snack bar. In total, they'll have 161 seats.
The two sub-fleets are another step up in United's premium mix. They'll replace and expand upon 40 Boeing 757-200 planes that have 16 business-class seats and no premium economy.
Speaking on a call with the media, United chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella said flyers won't have to wait long to experience the new narrowbody interiors. Forty of the Coastliners are expected to be in the United fleet by April 2028, along with 28 of the XLRs.
Both new sub-fleets are slated to debut this summer.
"This is another step in a decade-long journey to de-commoditize the industry, to de-commoditize United," CEO Scott Kirby said.
The announcement precedes United's upcoming introduction of a premium-focused Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The aircraft, which will formally debut April 22 on service between San Francisco and Singapore, will be the first to feature the United Polaris Studio, which has 25% more room than the standard United business-class pods. It also has a heavy premium mix, with eight Polaris Studios, 56 standard Polaris business-class pods, 35 Premium Plus premium economy seats and 89 standard economy seats.
United will place snack bars on its sub-fleet of Airbus A321XLRs and A321neos. Photo Credit: United Airlines
A reconfigured regional jet
United also announced Tuesday that it will introduce a premium regional aircraft on the Bombardier CRJ-450 -- a reconfigured CRJ-200 with a seven-seat first class and 41 total seats compared to the CRJ-200's single-cabin, 50-seat configuration. The reconfigured planes will have a storage locker in first class for carry-ons instead of overhead bins, a move intended to provide a more spacious feel.
The first CRJ-450 should be flying late this year. They primarily will be used on regional routes from Denver and Chicago-O'Hare. United expects to have more than 50 in the sky by 2028 alongside nearly 120 CRJ-550s, which are 50-seat jets with a 10-seat first class. The CRJ-550, introduced by United in 2019, are CRJ-700 planes that were reconfigured from 70 seats down to 50.