United confirms Eurobusiness-style seats for its new Airbus A321XLRs
The rumors are true: United Airlines is indeed bringing the "Eurobusiness" concept to the economy cabin on some of its newest planes.
The Chicago-based carrier confirmed on Tuesday that it's moving forward with plans to outfit each of its new Airbus A321XLR jets with one row featuring a guaranteed open middle seat.
It will be a slightly upgraded offering for some of its extra legroom seats, which the carrier touts as a way to give flyers a little more "elbow room" on long flights
The XLRs — complete with the new seating option — are expected to debut for the airline later this year. Those single-aisle aircraft will also sport new Polaris business-class suites with sliding privacy doors, along with a true premium economy cabin.
In coach, this new "blocked middle seat" product move wasn't a total surprise.
United last month confirmed it was "exploring" the new setup for the XLRs as an additional option for flyers on the brand-new, single-aisle long-range jet the carrier expects to be a fixture on East Coast routes to Europe.
Now, it's actually happening.
"We're investing nose-to-tail across our fleet and giving customers choice and value in every cabin," United Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella said in a statement announcing the new product.
United's new economy seating option
United will offer a single row of this new economy option, where customers can book either the window or the aisle seat — but the middle seat will remain empty, instead covered by an extra tray table.
It's a setup reminiscent of how European airlines approach their short-haul business-class cabin on intra-Europe flights, though — in that case — the seats are priced like business-class seats (and the service is more reminiscent of domestic first-class in the U.S.)
United will make these seats an elevated twist on its existing Economy Plus product, which means these seats will have extra legroom, too.
The carrier expects to offer the new coach product on all of the 50 XLRs it has on order, and noted it's "exploring" the potential to offer these seats on other jets in the future.
What about flight attendant staffing?
Earlier this summer, talk of the new seating option had raised suspicion in some industry circles that United would try to use the lower passenger count afforded by the two blocked middle seats to justify staffing one fewer flight attendant on its new XLR planes.
The carrier on Tuesday said it plans to staff five cabin crewmembers "on most transatlantic flights, consistent with the practice on the Boeing 757 it is replacing."
However, effectively capping the passenger count at 150 would give the airline the ability to staff four flight attendants on some flights, if it chose to, under Federal Aviation Administration rules.
Another upgrade in coach
This new seating option is the latest upgraded economy product United has unveiled in recent months.
The carrier in March announced a new "Relax Row" concept for some of its biggest long-haul planes, which will allow customers to turn three coach seats into a bed — similar to what Air New Zealand has offered in the past.
Also worth noting: Economy passengers on the new XLR jets will also have access to a walk-up snack bar.
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