With New Polaris, United Lays out Vision for Best Business Class in the U.S.

Another U.S. airline has introduced a business class with individual suites featuring sliding doors. United Airlines unveiled on Tuesday a new version of its Polaris business class, debuting in service next year aboard some Boeing 787-9s. Eventually, this new Polaris will be aboard United’s entire long-haul fleet.

A defining feature of the new business class is the Polaris Studio, a larger version of the new seat that United is promoting as the centerpiece of a strategy to capture an increasing number of premium customers. In the airline’s vision, this will be the best business class among U.S. airlines.

Let’s see what we learned at a launch event for the new cabins on Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York.

United’s New Polaris Studio Is First Class-Lite

United Airlines is betting on premium traffic, which it says will continue to do well even in the face of a possible economic downturn. Next year, it will introduce a whole new business class to satisfy the demand from U.S. customers for an increasingly sophisticated premium product. And it’s devoting more space on its planes to it.

The new product will first appear on the Boeing 787-9s United has ordered for entry into service in 2026. It will feature 64 business seats in Polaris, compared to 48 in the current layout. (Read more about the new cabins, which United calls the Elevated interior, and what they look like across all 3 classes.)

Most importantly for United’s premium-heavy strategy, 8 of those 64 business seats will be Polaris Studio suites, in 2 rows of 4, located at the front of each of the 2 Polaris sections.

United’s Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew Nocella, laid out an ambitious claim at the Brooklyn event.

Polaris Studio will be “the best business class experience on any U.S. carrier,” Nocella said, echoing his boss, CEO Scott Kirby, who had just said that United is “trying to be the biggest and best airline in the history of aviation.” (It’s currently the largest by mainline fleet size.)

On paper, the Polaris Studio — 25% larger than a standard Polaris seat — has what it takes to lead the class, at least among U.S. and indeed all North American airlines. In fact, it functions as a sort of first class, and it will be sold at a premium, although we don’t know yet by how much.

The 27-inch screen will be the largest offered by any U.S. carrier, but the most obvious feature distinguishing it from regular Polaris is the ottoman, with a safety belt so it can double as a seat and allow dining with a companion. Only the Mint Studio on JetBlue offers this option in the U.S., and there are only 2 of those on each aircraft, while United will offer 8.

Before even boarding, Polaris Studio passengers will go through the separate check-in reserved for members of Global Services, United’s invitation-only, ultra-elite status tier. Once on board, they will be treated to a caviar amuse bouche, also unique among U.S. airlines and normally found only in first class, and Laurent Perrier Cuvée Rosé Champagne.

For couples, the suites in the center are the place to be. Like Qatar Airways’ Qsuites, possibly the best business class in the world right now, they can be made into a double bed. That’s also unique among U.S. airlines.

Other touches throughout the new Polaris speak to United’s ambition with this product, too. The storage cubbies, for example, open with a smooth motion, revealing velour interiors.

Where You’ll Find United’s New Polaris Studio

The downside is that it will be a while before you’ll find the new Polaris (and the Studio) on all of United’s long-haul fleet.

The cabins will debut on newly delivered 787-9s, starting in 2026. Then they will be retrofitted to the 787s already in the fleet, including the smaller 787-8 and larger 787-10 models.

With a whopping 140 on order from Boeing, United will make the 787 the backbone of its long-haul fleet. 787s will also replace all of United’s 777-200s, which won’t be getting the new interiors, Nocella said. The larger 777-300s — the largest plane in the United fleet — will be getting them, on a schedule yet to be determined.

“By the very, very early 2030s, the Elevated interior will be seen across the entire network,” Nocella promised.

The first routes to get the new interior will be from San Francisco (SFO) to destinations in Asia. “We’ll put quite a few aircraft in San Francisco to fly across the Pacific,” Nocella said, “and San Francisco to London Heathrow will probably be the second route that we fly the aircraft on. London Heathrow is a very premium-oriented market, and so this is well-suited.”

United’s leadership isn’t worried about a possible recession hitting travel spending, either. “A short-term cycle change does not change our perspective,” Nocella told media at the event, “and this aircraft is a great example” of that long-term bet on premium traffic.

There’s another new version of Polaris business coming, too, on the Airbus A321XLR that United will begin flying next year. While we haven’t seen the future business cabin for the single-aisle jet, we know that it will be arranged in a 1-1 layout with 28 seats all facing the aisle, similar to the latest iteration of JetBlue’s Mint. You can expect to see it on shorter flights to Europe from the East Coast.

Final Thoughts

JetBlue was first with the Mint Studio, American just rolled out the Flagship Suite, and now United follows with the Polaris Studio. U.S. airlines are rushing to introduce their version of super-business class, with doors, extra space, and more features.

There’s only one holdout among U.S. major carriers with long-haul flights: Delta. It has its own pods with doors, but doesn’t offer extra-space suites that can be sold at a markup from regular business. We’ll see whether Delta follows its rivals with a competing product, but we already know that United’s Polaris Studio has set the bar high.