United upgrades in-flight products
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United Continental Holdings has announced plans to invest more than half a billion dollars in its onboard products. The improvements include adding flat-bed seating on 62 additional long-haul aircraft, bringing total aircraft with flat-bed seats to 185, as well as adding its premium economy class product to more than 300 aircraft. In addition, the newly-merged airline group intends to nearly double the amount of overhead storage space on more than 150 aircraft, and install Wi-Fi on more than 200 aircraft.
These and other planned product changes come in addition to the 25 new aircraft – including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner – which the airline will introduce to its fleet next year.
“We are making very good progress building the world’s leading airline,” said Jeff Smisek, President & Chief Executive Officer of United Continental Holdings. “When we announced our merger, we committed to building an airline that our co-workers would want to work for, our customers would want to fly, and our investors would want to invest in. These product enhancements announced today, coupled with our unbeatable route network and loyalty program, will provide an unsurpassed travel experience for our customers. We are planning many other product enhancements, both on the ground and in the air, which we will announce in the future.”
In September, United will begin installing all-new flat-bed seats, on-demand audio and video programming and iPod connectivity in the premium cabins on 26 Boeing 767s – 12 Continental 767-400 aircraft and 14 United 767-300 aircraft. The company will also upgrade 767-400s with Economy Plus seating and the Channel 9 air traffic control audio channel, which all United aircraft currently have. The 26 aircraft, which primarily serve trans-Atlantic, Latin American and Hawaiian markets, will offer BusinessFirst and Economy cabins.
United will also retrofit more than a dozen additional 777 aircraft this year, to include flat-bed seats and advanced in-flight entertainment in First and Business, and on-demand video in Economy.
The Economy Plus seating will be installed on all Continental mainline aircraft this autumn, with the premium economy offering to be rolled-out on 38 Continental aircraft by year-end and nearly 100 more by the end of the first quarter of 2012. United is also adding First and Economy Plus seating to 29 Bombardier Q400 regional aircraft operating domestic routes under the United Express banner.
Beginning in March 2012, the airline will nearly double the size of the overhead bins on all 152 of its Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft. The larger bins will increase storage space by 66 percent. The airline will also refresh the interiors of its Airbus fleet.
Finally United is currently selecting a company to offer a streaming video in-flight entertainment option on its Boeing 747-400 aircraft, enabling customers to access video options via their Wi-Fi-enabled handheld devices, tablets and laptop computers. This upgrade of in-flight entertainment comes along with the airline’s plans to install Wi-Fi on its aircraft.
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