Everything United Showed Off at Its Massive ‘Elevated’ Event in Los Angeles

The future of United Airlines came into clearer focus in Los Angeles on Tuesday, March 24, where it hosted a large event at its Terminal 7 hangar at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

New aircraft like the Boeing 787-9 Elevated and the CRJ450 were on display in the hangar, and Upgraded Points was on board to see them in person for the first time (stay tuned for a closer look at each).

However, that was far from everything the carrier had in store. A parade of airline executives, including CEO Scott Kirby, addressed a crowd of several hundred to lay out a vision for the ascendant carrier’s future, including significant investments in the passenger experience and even emerging technologies that could revolutionize personal transport.

Let’s take a look at everything that was on display.

New Jets Stole the Show

United started the day by announcing its plan to take delivery of more than 250 aircraft over the next 2 years, including subfleets of new Airbus A321neo Coastliner jets that will operate premium transcontinental routes from fall 2026 with new Elevated cabins and another subfleet of Airbus A321XLRs that will operate select short- and medium-haul international routes, particularly to Europe and South America.

These aircraft will feature cabins with Polaris cabins designed specifically for United Airlines, in addition to 12 Premium Plus seats on each aircraft type.

However, there is one primary difference passengers will notice: While the Polaris product on both aircraft types comes equipped with closing doors, they remain permanently open on the Coastliner (because of regulations), whereas they can be closed on board the A321XLRs.

Unfortunately, these jets weren’t present at the hangar, but we were able to see 2 new planes entering the fleet imminently.

First is the CRJ450, a regional jet that features a first-class cabin without overhead bins and a storage locker for bags instead. And in the economy cabin, passengers can look forward to overhead bins that fit roller bags.

The star of the show, undoubtedly, was the Boeing 787-9 Elevated, which will fly its first long-haul flight in less than a month. This aircraft is United’s new flagship vessel, featuring the carrier’s most premium-heavy cabin configuration to date.

It debuts the latest iteration of the carrier’s Polaris business class product, including the all-new Polaris Studio, an improved Polaris seat that’s more spacious, offers more and better amenities than a standard Polaris suite, provides a superior ground experience, and more. United calls it the most premium product it’s ever offered.

Soft Product Improvements on Display

New aircraft with snazzy interiors aren’t the only thing the airline is focusing on. It knows that in order to achieve its mission of dethroning Delta as the nation’s preeminent premium carrier, it must provide passengers with an equally impressive experience on board.

This means investing in its food and beverage program, inflight amenities, and entertainment.

Of course, United has its partnership with Starlink for blazing-fast inflight Wi-Fi, which it provides free to MileagePlus members. That rollout continues apace, with the carrier expecting to have half of its mainline fleet retrofitted with Starlink by the end of the year and its entire fleet by the end of 2027.

At the Los Angeles event, the carrier was keen to show off the investments it’s made in its food and beverage program and other inflight amenities. Attendees were invited to taste the future of its onboard meals and drinks, including samples of dishes from the new collaboration with Chef’s Table.

I sampled just about everything on offer, including a crème fraiche panna cotta with osetra caviar, which will be served in the new Polaris Studio suites; a tomato tartare and tapenade with crostini; and braised lamb with turnip puree, grilled zucchini, and charred scallion butter.

Of course, I had to sample the Laurent-Perrier La Cuvée Champagne as well. Polaris passengers will also be able to select Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé.

Everything tasted delicious on the ground, but we’ll have to wait until we can get on board a United Elevated flight to test how these dishes fare at altitude. But with catering having been a sore spot in United’s journey toward the top, it’s encouraging to see a healthy investment and innovation in the food and beverage program.

It’s not just food and beverage that’s getting an upgrade, though. United has also invested in onboard amenities to enhance the inflight experience for passengers.

In business class, Polaris passengers get an updated set of Saks Fifth Avenue bedding, which customers have known and loved since the original Polaris launch years ago. It includes a day blanket, a duvet, the famous cooling gel pillow, and another standard pillow. Polaris Studio passengers will also receive an accent pillow.

Stepping up to Polaris Studio also gets you a set of pajamas with Polaris branding, a set of high-quality Meridian noise-cancelling headphones, a pair of slippers, and even a set of Polaris Studio-branded playing cards.

Amenity kits are getting an upgrade, too. Polaris amenity kits are UA100-branded and feature products from Perricone MD, including cleansing wipes, eye gel, a cooling facial mist, lip balm, and hand cream.

Polaris Studio amenity kits feature a special Perricone MD black, leather bag and a higher-end suite of products from the cosmetics brand.

Finally, economy passengers also have new amenities to look forward to, including a new, more robust-looking neck pillow, a heartier blanket, and even new earbuds.

United Relax Row

United surprised the crowd when it announced United Relax Row, the first sky couch economy seating concept from a North American carrier.

Relax Row will begin flying in 2027 and will be installed on more than 200 Boeing 787 and 777s by 2030. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet.

Archer’s Midnight eVTOL Aircraft

United has invested in Archer, a company whose goal is to revolutionize how people travel through congested cities by ditching soul-crushing traffic and instead flying in piloted, all-electric eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft.

Archer had its so-called Midnight aircraft on display in Los Angeles, and it says the helicopter-like aircraft can travel at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. Midnight can carry up to 4 passengers with, according to Archer, “dramatically lower noise than a helicopter.”

Archer says it’s in the “final stages of certification with the FAA,” and has already announced flight networks in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. Additionally, it has plans to operate flights during the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, with takeoff and landing sites at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the University of Southern California, Orange County, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Burbank, Long Beach, and Van Nuys.

Final Thoughts

United Airlines has big plans for its future, and it’s not being shy about showing them off. It has a massive number of new aircraft on the way that feature the carrier’s vision of what a premium airline should offer.

In addition to the new aircraft, the airline has recognized the need to improve its food, beverages, and amenities to match the impressive hard product that will be flying very soon.

It’s an exciting time to be a United flyer, especially if you can score a seat in the front of the cabin. We can’t wait for these aircraft to start flying and are looking forward to the opportunity to try each and every one of them for ourselves.