United p.s.

United p.s. is a premium service offered by United Airlines on flights between Newark Liberty International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport. The fleet consists of specially configured Boeing 757-200 aircraft with three classes of service: United BusinessFirst, United Economy Plus, and United Economy. Each class of service includes certain amenities not offered on regular flights.

On June 16, 2015, United announced plans to shift United p.s. from John F. Kennedy International Airport, from/to where p.s. flights had been operated since launching the service in 2004, to its hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and to increase the size of the service's Boeing 757-200 fleet. ^[1]

History

Following the post-9/11 decline in air travel, coupled with often high legacy labor and fixed operating costs, such as the operation of relatively inefficient aircraft models (such as the Boeing 727, and Boeing 767-200) and unprofitable routes, United filed for bankruptcy in December 2002. Once the airline began to bounce back, United launched TED, a low cost airline, in 2003 and United p.s., a luxury service between JFK and SFO and LAX, in October 2004. The transcontinental service offers extra amenities not found on other domestic flights, as well as high frequency of departures as a flagship/signature service.

United's premium product competes with the American Flagship Service introduced by American Airlines for the U.S. domestic market in 1992.^[2]

On March 22, 2010, the Chicago Tribune reported that United would be retaining its p.s. service after the merger with Continental Airlines. A number of interior improvements such as upgrading the lie-flat beds and the cabin service are planned for the p.s. 757 fleet.^[3]

On August 22, 2011, the airline announced the p.s. fleet would be gutted and "reborn" with: Flat-Bed Seats, New Economy Plus Seats, AVOD and Wi-Fi, however these changes include the elimination of United First, making p.s. a "two-plus" class service. ^[4]

On June 16, 2015, United announced plans to transfer all p.s. operations from JFK to their existing mainline hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and to increase the size of the p.s. Boeing 757-200 fleet by displacing aircraft from select transatlantic services, in favor of Boeing 767 widebody aircraft. ^[5] The final p.s. flight from JFK (which was also the final United flight from JFK) was UA535 to Los Angeles on October 24, 2015.

Fleet

Classes of service

BusinessFirst

BusinessFirst consists of 28 fully flat-bed seats in a 2x2 configuration from rows 1 through 7. This aircraft uses exactly the same BusinessFirst seats United uses on Boeing 757s configured for transatlantic flights. The major difference is that the ps BusinessFirst configuration includes 3 additional rows of BusinessFirst after Door 2L. This class of service includes AVOD at every seat and BusinessFirst service standards. Access to the United Club is included with a BusinessFirst boarding pass. All seats on this aircraft feature 110v power.^[4]

United Economy Plus

Economy Plus takes up rows 21 (originally row 20) through 27 with 42 (originally 48) seats that feature 36 inches of pitch and 7 inches of recline, 5 inches more pitch and 2 inches more recline than standard economy seats. Originally, row 20 was also "Economy Plus" but the row was changed to a standard economy row after it was discovered that row 20 did not provide more legroom and did not have any recline as it was in front of an emergency exit, despite row 20 being an exit row. The seats are in a 3x3 configuration, each equipped with an AVOD system for in-flight entertainment. For each three-seat segment, there are two 110 V AC power ports and one satellite phone unit, plus a USB port at each seat.^[4]

Economy

Economy began being offered on United p.s. flights starting in 2012, upon completion of the transition of the p.s. fleet to a "two-plus" class service. It currently includes rows 20 and 28-38 offering 31 inches of pitch and 5 inches of recline. Every 3 seat section features an AC power outlet between seats, as well as a USB port at each seat, and an AVOD screen at each seat.^[4]

References

External links

• United Airlines