Your questions answered | United Airtime

Q: Why are flights between Honolulu (HNL) and Guam (GUM) considered domestic flights and therefore have no sleeper seats in business class?

A: The Boeing 777 operating on this route are currently undergoing reconfiguration to convert the front cabin seats to the same type of seats currently used on three-cabin aircraft, which include lie-flat seats. This fleet reconfiguration is planned to be complete by spring 2017.

Q: Will the new Illy coffee include decaf?

A: Yes, we launched the new illy decaf product in July and we are already getting great reviews.

Q: Why don't you have any European destinations from your Denver hub? It is such a fast-growing city and it’s your only hub without any service to Europe.

A: We are assessing potential new long-haul opportunities from Denver. We plan to grow our service at Denver International Airport faster in 2016 than any of our other hubs.

Q: Why isn’t United flying any of the Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners out of East Coast hubs such as Washington, D.C. and New York/Newark? We on the East Coast would love to see some Dreamliner service! I also believe that Chicago has yet to receive any 787s.

A: We have focused our first 30 787s in hubs with the longest average flight length (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver and Houston) where the fuel savings are greatest. We have many more 787s on order, and we envision that we will introduce 787s to new hubs throughout 2018 and beyond.

Q: What is United doing to help alleviate long security lines at airports?

A:

We are investing in automated screening lanes, opening TSA PreCheck enrollment centers and redesigning security checkpoints at several of our largest hubs as part of an ongoing, collaborative strategy between us and the TSA to increase efficiency and convenience in the airport screening process.

We will debut the first of 17 automated lanes this fall at New York/Newark and plan to install additional lanes in Chicago and Los Angeles later this year. The new lanes will enable up to five customers to fill their individual bins simultaneously and move through the screening process quicker. They also use a parallel conveyor system that automatically returns empty bins to the front of the queue.

We are also opening a temporary PreCheck enrollment center at our signature space at New York’s Penn Station in July and one in the lobby of the Willis Tower in Chicago Aug. 15-19. We will also host a temporary enrollment event in the United Club near gate B44 at our hub in Denver from Aug. 9-12. Later this summer, we, in collaboration with the TSA, will open permanent enrollment centers at our hub airports in Chicago, Newark, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco, offering more customers greater convenience when applying for PreCheck status. We currently have permanent PreCheck enrollment centers at Denver and Washington-Dulles.

In addition, we are building and redesigning checkpoints at several hubs, including consolidating four checkpoints into one centralized checkpoint at New York/Newark, redesigning security checkpoints in Chicago with new technology this fall, and constructing a new customer check-in area and a consolidated security screening checkpoint in Los Angeles.

Q: When an arrival flight touches the ground early, why does it regularly seem that the ground crew didn't know the plane was coming? It's really frustrating to sit on the tarmac waiting for the jet bridge to be moved into place and the plane to be opened for passengers to disembark. Can you correct this through better scheduling and attentiveness to the inbound flights?

A: Our ground crews closely monitor incoming flights to ensure they are in place five minutes prior to the estimated arrival time so they can complete their pre-arrival safety checks. However, there are times when aircraft arrives early and the designated crew is still working on another flight nearby. When this happens, we work to get additional employees in place quickly so that we can get customers on their way as fast as possible.

Q: Will United Polaris service replace United BusinessFirst and United Global First?

A: United Polaris business class will replace United BusinessFirst on international flights, and United Polaris Global First will replace United Global First service. Both of these changes will come with significant enhancements to the service and products provided in our current international premium cabin experience.

Q: Will the addition of United Polaris business class lead to changes to United Global First?

A: In December 2016, when United Global First becomes United Polaris Global First, travelers will see enhancements to amenities, dining and service that will improve the overall travel experience. In addition to receiving the higher-quality United Polaris amenities, United Polaris Global First will still have the elevated amenities and specialized attention you’ve come to expect from our international first class service. As we update our fleet over the next several years to incorporate our signature United Polaris direct-aisle-access seating, we will be phasing out the first class cabin and moving toward a two-cabin experience for international travel.

Q: Why are you providing Premier status to some people who have not earned it?

A: We have been receiving feedback from some of our Premier members about the targeted MileagePlus promotion we recently launched. Let us assure you, we do not expect a notable change to the customer experience and benefits you receive today. This promotion was created to provide a very limited group of Premier MileagePlus members with Premier status one level higher than their current Premier level. Being a promotion, it is for a limited time period, and it doesn’t provide the same benefits you would receive as an earned Premier member (e.g. those participating in this promotion will not receive Global or Regional Premier Upgrades).

Q: Why doesn’t United have a hub in the Southeast U.S.?

A: “United’s hubs are generally in areas where there are high numbers of business travelers, who benefit from the better schedules we offer compared to our competition and who are loyal MileagePlus members. Many of the larger cities in the Southeast U.S., such as Orlando and Miami, are more destination markets where people travel to from all over the country, rather than markets where business customers who live there are traveling from often. While that makes them great markets for us to serve frequently, it doesn’t make them great markets to become hubs. Additionally, while Florida offers great connecting opportunities to Latin America, we already offer those connections through our Houston hub. When we’re considering hubs, we not only consider the economics of that location, but also how it would impact other aspects of our network and fleet planning. We think the best use of our aircraft right now is in San Francisco and Denver, so that’s where we’re ramping up our services.”
-Brian Znotins, Network VP