Metropolitan Airport NewsMetropolitan Airport News
  • Airport News
    • Publisher’s Message
    • Fast Five
    • On Duty
    • Air Cargo
    • Airline News
    • Airport Community
    • Airport Employment News
    • Airport Safety & Security
    • Company Spotlight
    • Ground Services
    • Intermodal
    • New York Aviation History
    • Non-Rev Traveler
  • Airport & Aviation Events
  • Airport Employment
  • Latest Issue
  • Login

Subscribe for Updates

Get the latest local airport and aviation news delivered right into your inbox each week!

News Updates
TSA explosives detection canine Ben is usually screening passengers at JFK International Airport. Here he takes a much-deserved break from screening passengers.

TSA Canines Enhancing Security at John F. Kennedy International Airport

September 20, 2023
osh Earnest Executive Vice President of Communications and Advertising; Terri Fariello, Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and Global Public Policy

United Announces New Leadership Promotions

September 19, 2023
Guillaume Halleux joins Swissport as Chief Commercial Officer

Guillaume Halleux joins Swissport as Chief Commercial Officer

September 19, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Metropolitan Airport NewsMetropolitan Airport News
  • Airport News
    • Publisher’s Message
    • Fast Five
    • On Duty
    • Air Cargo
    • Airline News
    • Airport Community
    • Airport Employment News
    • Airport Safety & Security
    • Company Spotlight
    • Ground Services
    • Intermodal
    • New York Aviation History
    • Non-Rev Traveler
  • Airport & Aviation Events
  • Airport Employment
  • Latest Issue
  • Login
Metropolitan Airport NewsMetropolitan Airport News
Home»Airline News»United Airlines Unveils Reimagined International Travel Experience – United Polaris Business Class
Airline News

United Airlines Unveils Reimagined International Travel Experience – United Polaris Business Class

Metropolitan Airport NewsBy Metropolitan Airport NewsJune 11, 2016No Comments5 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

With the aspiration of making weary business travel a relic of the past, United Airlines today unveiled its all-new United Polaris business class, the airline’s most significant product transformation in more than a decade, featuring a reimagined, sleep-enhancing, departure-to-landing experience for intercontinental travelers.
United Polaris will change the game in international business travel with an exceptional level of relaxation and comfort throughout our customers’ journeys,” said Oscar Munoz, president and CEO of United. “This completely reconceived experience exemplifies the new spirit of United and the innovation, excitement and operational momentum across our airline.”

Path-Breaking Design

In setting out to create a transformative business class experience, United chose to outfit its widebody fleet with a custom-designed, exclusive-to-United seat, rather than select an option already in the marketplace. Designed in partnership with Acumen Design Associates and PriestmanGoode and manufactured by Zodiac Seats United Kingdom, each United Polaris seat will offer direct access to the aisle, 180-degree flat-bed recline and up to 6 foot 6 inches of bed space.

Crafted as individual, forward-facing, suite-like pods, each customer’s personal suite will feature a “Do Not Disturb” sign, mood lighting, one-touch lumbar support, several storage areas, multiple surfaces for simultaneous working and dining, a 16-inch high-definition entertainment screen and, for seats in the center of the cabin, electronic privacy dividers. Complementing the new seats, United and PriestmanGoode have also conceived an all-new look for the United Polaris cabins.

In rethinking the international business class experience, United conducted more than 12,000 hours of research, and sleep emerged as the single most important priority for international business class travelers. United Polaris’ path-breaking design and sleep-enhancing focus was inspired and informed by insights from hundreds of customers and employees, inflight product simulations and more than 100 product evaluations.

Sleep-Enticing Amenities

In addition to the sleep-enticing United Polaris personal suites, several other amenities were designed with our customers’ sleep in mind.

In a first-of-its-kind partnership, United has worked with leading luxury specialty store Saks Fifth Avenue for custom-designed bedding. All designed to provide the best sleep in the sky, the new bedding collection will feature plush duvets, lightweight day-blankets and a large and small pillow for each United Polaris customer. In addition, mattress cushions will be available upon request.

Slippers will be available on all flights, and customized United Polaris pajamas will be available by request on flights longer than 12 hours. Flyers will also be able to request a gel-cooled pillow. New amenity kits will feature ergonomically designed eye shades, calming lavender pillow mist and additional products from Soho House & Co.’s Cowshed Spa.

With the introduction of United Polaris, the airline intends to donate tens of thousands of pillows, blankets and other inflight service items to Fisher House Foundation, which United and its employees have long supported.

Elevated Dining Experience

Upon boarding their flight, each United Polaris customer will be welcomed with a pre-departure beverage of his or her choice and gourmet chocolate. While in the air, customers will enjoy regionally influenced in-flight menus updated seasonally, developed in partnership with The Trotter Project and its critically recognized chefs, including Bill Kim of acclaimed Chicago restaurants Urbanbelly, bellyQ and Belly Shack.

The airline will offer an upgraded wine experience, with the highest-quality options curated exclusively by United’s Master Sommelier. Inflight service will also include made-to-order signature ice cream sundaes, a dessert cart with a variety of petit dessert options, chocolate truffles and wine flights. On daytime flights longer than eight hours and on all flights longer than 12 hours, hot mid-flight snacks such as lobster macaroni and cheese will be available.

Raising The Bar With United Polaris Business Class Lounges

United will also open an exclusive portfolio of United Polaris business class lounges in nine locations around the world – the only lounge of its kind offered by a U.S. airline to business class customers – that will feature custom-designed chairs, private daybeds, spa-like showers and chef-inspired hot meals served in a boutique restaurant setting so customers can refresh and dine before boarding their planes. Premium sparkling wines and spirits, refreshing snacks and bottled water will also be offered.

The first new United Polaris lounge will open at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Dec. 1, 2016. Lounges in eight other locations – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, New York/Newark, Washington Dulles, Tokyo Narita, Hong Kong and London Heathrow – will follow in 2017.

United Polaris Introduction

United will begin to introduce United Polaris on Dec. 1, 2016, with the new inflight food and beverage experience, new custom bedding from Saks Fifth Avenue, new amenity kits and the new United Polaris lounge in Chicago. The United Polaris business class seat will first take flight in December on Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and subsequently on Boeing 787-10 and Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, as well as on Boeing 767-300 and 777-200 retrofits.

United Polaris will serve business class customers flying the U.S. airline industry’s most global route network, reaching more than 330 destinations in more than 50 countries. This year, United launches or resumes eight intercontinental routes, including the first-ever service between the United States and the Chinese cities of Xi’an and Hangzhou. The airline began nonstop service in late May linking New York/Newark with Newcastle, U.K., and Athens, and linking Washington Dulles with Lisbon and Barcelona. On June 1, United launched its first-ever nonstop service between San Francisco and Singapore, the longest flight by a U.S. carrier. Service between San Francisco and Auckland begins in July.

More information on the United Polaris business class can be found at united.com/Polaris.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8nKNY8U3do

United Airlines
Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
Metropolitan Airport News
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Produced by a team of aviation professionals and enthusiasts, our mission is to inform and update the more than 68,000 employees who work on the metropolitan New York airport properties, as well as the many others that provide goods and services in the surrounding communities.

RELATED NEWS & UPDATES

osh Earnest Executive Vice President of Communications and Advertising; Terri Fariello, Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and Global Public Policy

United Announces New Leadership Promotions

September 19, 2023
Helena Williams, CEO JFK Millennium Partners

The JFK Airport Terminal 6 Revival

September 8, 2023
JetBlue London Heathrow Arrival Landing

JetBlue “Welkoms” Amsterdam Service with Flights from New York

August 31, 2023
Boeing and the Rise of the 7x7 Jetliners

Boeing and the Rise of the 7×7 Jetliners

August 8, 2023
American Airlines

American Airlines Education Foundation Awards Nearly $1 Million in Scholarships

August 4, 2023
First Braille-equipped aircraft now flying and the airline expects to outfit entire mainline fleet by 2026

United Becomes First U.S. Airline to Add Braille to Aircraft Cabin Interiors

July 27, 2023
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

AIRPORT & AVIATION EVENTS
2023 Kiwanis Kids Day (Rescheduled)
September 23, 2023 - September 23, 2023
10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
  • LaGuardia Airport-(LGA)
Queens, New York
JFK Airport Food Service Recruitment Event
September 25, 2023
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport-(JFK)
Jamaica, New York
Civil Air Patrol Falcon Squadron Meeting
September 25, 2023
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport-(JFK)
Jamaica, New York
  • >> More Airport & Aviation Events

Subscribe for Weekly Email Updates

Get the latest local airport news, events, and jobs delivered right into your inbox each week.

Metropolitan Airport News provides timely news, information and updates for both Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) employees and businesses that provide services at, and around the major New York airports (JFK, LGA, EWR).

John F. Kennedy International Airport
PO Box 300877
Jamaica, NY 11430 USA
Phone: (347) 396-0904
Email Us

Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn Flickr
SEPTEMBER 2023 ISSUE
Metropolitan Airport News - September 2023
LATEST COMMENTS
  • Robert Waldvogel on Long Island MacArthur: New York’s Secondary Airport
  • USN Veteran on Long Island MacArthur: New York’s Secondary Airport
  • Stephen Adams on The Ultimate Airline Employee Incentive
  • Jeff Landgrebe on The Ultimate Airline Employee Incentive
  • About Us
  • Advertising Options
  • Charitable Giving Program
  • Back Issue Archive
  • Contact Us
© 2023 Airport Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.