Updated United A321XLR Seat Map Uncovered, Showing a Smaller Polaris Cabin

We’ve known for a while now that United is set to welcome long-range, narrow-body Airbus A321XLR jets. But deliveries have been delayed, and we have yet to see the aircraft in the flesh in a United livery — and with United-specific cabin configurations.

However, we now have a fresh look at the seat map that the airline intends to install on these aircraft when they join the fleet in 2026. Here’s the latest on this exciting aircraft.

United’s A321XLRs Arrive in 2026 With a Smaller Polaris Cabin

Several years ago, United placed an order for 50 single-aisle Airbus A321XLR jets to replace its aging fleet of Boeing 757 aircraft and fill gaps in its route network.

Since then, we’ve been eager to learn more about these aircraft, especially because their delivery has been delayed multiple times. Last year, we saw patent filings that indicated plans for a 3-class cabin configuration with 28 all-new Polaris seats in the front of the aircraft.

However, X user JonNYC has shared images of an updated seat map, indicating a smaller Polaris cabin with 20 seats instead of 28. Behind the Polaris cabin, the aircraft will have 12 Premium Plus (United’s name for premium economy) seats, 36 Economy Plus (extra-legroom economy), and 82 economy seats — making a total of 150 seats.

While we don’t have every detail surrounding the Polaris seats on this plane, we do know that it will be a distinct product from what United offers on other Polaris-equipped jets.

The cabin will feature 20 seats arranged in a herringbone configuration with just 28 inches of pitch, though the seats recline fully flat into beds measuring 75 to 78 inches in length. Each will feature a closing privacy door and a new space-saving solution that provides shoulder space at 1 seat and lower-arm space in the next seat — in the same area.

Premium Configuration Narrow-Body Competition Heats up

Generally, airlines choose an aircraft like the Airbus A321XLR to operate routes that cover a long distance but don’t necessarily have quite enough demand to fill a wide-body jet. Several carriers already operate aircraft like this, including TAP Air Portugal, Aer Lingus, and JetBlue, all of which offer transatlantic flights on these planes.

United’s plan for these aircraft shows a 1-1 layout with seats at an angle, somewhat like JetBlue has.

The 3 major legacy carriers — American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United — have been relative latecomers to premium-configuration narrow-body jets, but they’re actively catching up. In addition to United taking delivery of its first A321XLR next summer, American Airlines expects its own A321XLRs to join its fleet in early 2026. Those planes will operate premium transcontinental routes, like New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX), in addition to “long-and-thin” transatlantic missions.

Delta, meanwhile, has ordered Airbus A321neo jets that will be equipped with a lie-flat business-class cabin, premium economy, extra-legroom economy, and economy seats to be used primarily on premium transcontinental routes in the coming years.

When United takes delivery of its A321XLRs, we can expect a strategy similar to American’s. United has said to expect the aircraft on certain transatlantic routes from its Newark (EWR) hub, but don’t be surprised to find the aircraft operating flights to Latin America as well. It’s not confirmed at this point, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see them operating some premium transcontinental routes between Newark and Los Angeles and San Francisco (SFO), either.

Final Thoughts

We’ve been expecting United’s Airbus A321XLRs for a while, and now we have more information regarding the cabin configuration. It appears the Polaris cabin will shrink from 28 to 20 seats, but it will feature an exciting new product.

We’re inching ever closer to delivery, and we look forward to learning more about where these aircraft will be deployed — and what the Polaris seats will actually look like — in the coming months.