Coastliner, A321XLR to Boost United’s Premium Offerings

Sub-fleets add complexities to the operation, but when large enough, can also deliver new opportunities. United Airlines aims to take advantage of its scale, bringing two new single-aisle layouts online later this year with a heavy premium focus.

Long-time United Airlines passengers will recall the airline’s “p.s.” brand, a special set of premium aircraft and services dedicated to the highly important US transcontinental market. The p.s. fleet disappeared in the early COVID days, leaving United to operate a mix of international equipment, aging Boeing 757s with low density premium cabins, and a decidedly not premium configuration Boeing 777-200 to shuttle travelers coast-to-coast.

United Coastliner for Transcon Service

Enter the Coastliner, United’s new branding for a sub-fleet of Airbus A321neo, dedicated to transcontinental flying.

The Coastliner is United’s answer to the bottomless pit of premium demand between its key Newark hub (and later a return to JFK) and Los Angeles and San Francisco. Much like its p.s. predecessor, Coastliner will wear a unique livery variation which it says will make these special aircraft easy to identify. This includes painting “UNITED” on the bottom of the planes, a first for the carrier.

The exterior is unique, but the interior is where Coastliner really makes a change from the status quo. These A321neo aircraft will feature 161 total seats: 20 Polaris suites*, 12 Premium Plus seats, 36 Economy Plus and 93 in economy. The net shift from the 752 is a reduction of 15 total seats, but with a strong premium boost.

Coastliner will fly with 4 more business class seats than the 757-200 it directly replaces, while introducing Premium Plus for the first time on a United narrowbody aircraft. It will have 31 fewer economy class seats overall, six fewer in E+ and 25 fewer in the main cabin.

On the ground, United will elevate lounge access for its transcon passengers booked in business from United Club access to Polaris Lounge access. This move brings United in line with its direct competitors, as Delta gives its transcon passengers access to the Delta One lounge and American to its Flagship Lounges. JetBlue does not offer lounge access to its Mint transcon travelers.

United’s A321XLRs: A Premium-heavy Single-Aisle Option

United is also preparing to take delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR, an even lower-density configuration of the A321neo that it plans to deploy on shorter international routes that the Boeing 757 currently covers.

United hopes the increased fleet size and range of the XLR will enable it to open new destinations, with Spain, France, Portugal, and Brazil specifically mentioned in its release..

Like the Coastliner, the XLR will be equipped with a large premium cabin of 20 Polaris suites and 12 Premium Plus seats, offering a far more premium experience than the outgoing Boeing 757. In the back half of the plane the XLR will feature 34 Economy Plus seats and 84 economy class seats, for a total capacity of 150 passengers, 11 fewer than the Coastliner layout.

United’s layout compares relatively favorably to other carriers operating A321neo variants long-haul. It is not as sparse a layout as JetBlue’s A321LR, for example, but comes in with 15-20% fewer seats than Aer Lingus and Iberia offer on their XLRs.

A Unique and Patented Polaris Seat

Both the XLR and Coastliner have long been rumored to feature seats manufactured by Elevate Aerospace (f/k/a Adient), though this is still unconfirmed. United says that its patented seat offers more elbow and shoulder room, with lower suite walls that give a more open feeling to the cabin.

“In particular, the seat has a number of special adaptations that we felt were necessary and needed for wide body comfort on a narrow body aircraft, and we think we hit a home run, we’ll let our passengers ultimately decide that,” said Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella on a preview call.

“Versus others, we’ve used somewhat transparent wall dividers between the seats. You can’t see through them, but light does go through them. We think this creates a more open feeling. We use lower walls than we would normally put on a wide body jet, again to reflect a more spacious and comfortable environment on a narrow body jet.”

Those design elements mirror the talking points of the Elevate/Adient Altitude seat, lending further credence to the theory it is the seat of choice for United.

Both the Coastliner and XLR configurations also include a walk-up snack bar at the rear of the aircraft. The company traded out seats to deliver the more premium experience, even for those in economy class.

Is it Enough?

Both new A321 layouts are expected to enter service later this year. United expects to eventually take 50 A321neo in the Coastliner configuration, with 40 operating by April 2028. The company also anticipates 50 A321XLRs in its fleet, with 28 in service by early 2028.

United currently operates roughly 40 757-200s with the premium configuration, including transcon and international services. The new A321s more than double the air frames available for these markets (and should also significantly increase operational reliability while decreasing trip costs thanks to fuel efficiency). Indeed, with 40 Coastliners coming online so quickly, there is ample opportunity for United to expand where it offers the premium cabin experience. Some of that will undoubtedly head to JFK when United resumes operations there, currently slated for 2027. But by early 2028 the carrier will have enough Coastliner planes to significantly broaden its premium operations. Where and how that happens remains to be seen.

At the same time, United operates significant premium capacity on its transcon routes today. A typical day sees ten flights each way between Newark and Los Angeles and San Francisco. Today that includes 310 business class seats to LAX and 392 to SFO, along with 108/141 in premium economy, respectively. Swapping all those aircraft to the Coastliner configuration would mean 200 business class seats and 120 Premium Plus each to LAX and SFO, a significant reduction of total premium capacity. It would also roughly halve the number of economy class seats in the market. Even the prior p.s. configuration operated with 28 business class seats, 40% more than the new Coastliner config, though also without premium economy in the cabin.

Doubling the number of flights, just to maintain status quo in capacity in some of the busiest US markets, presents interesting challenges, especially around slot capacity at those airports. This will be an important facet of the operation to consider as United moves forward with the Coastliner transition.

Nose-to-Tail IFE/C Improvements

United says the XLR will feature 4K OLED screens from Panasonic Avionics’ Astrova line, with sizes up to 19 inches in Polaris, 16 inches in Premium Plus, and 13 inches in economy. The aircraft will also be fitted with Starlink for inflight internet, offered complimentary to MileagePlus members. In-seat power will be on offer, including wireless charging on the Polaris side table.

Nocella worked hard to assure reporters that potential supply chain issues are well accounted for, a claim also made in 2021 for the Signature Interiors refresh. That program has since stabilized, but remains a couple years behind the original schedule.

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These A321 updates are just half of the story this week. United also announced the introduction of the CRJ450 family of aircraft, a premium redesign of the CRJ200.

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*While all of the new Polaris seats offer privacy doors, United executives acknowledged that none are active right now pending certification issues. Moreover, it seems the Coastliner configuration will have the doors locked open longer-term, though that detail was slightly confusing in the briefing, and seems an unlikely choice given it is going through the trouble of installing them.