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United Airlines is the only US airline to have ordered the newest variant of Boeing’s Dreamliner, the 787-10. The carrier has been fairly tight-lipped about its plans for its 14 -10s that it has on order — including what they’ll look like on the inside and where exactly they’ll fly. FlightGlobal, however, is reporting both that the aircraft will feature three cabins and that it could potentially use them out of Newark (EWR) for European operations.
According to a seat map published by FlightGlobal, United’s -10 will feature Polaris business class, premium economy and economy. More specifically, the map shows that you’ll find 48 Polaris business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, 45 extra legroom economy seats and 208 standard economy seats.
United neither confirmed nor denied that the seat map is accurate.
As a point of comparison, United’s 787-9s are equipped to seat 252 passengers — 48 in lie-flat Polaris business class, 88 in economy plus and 116 in standard economy. For United, the oldest of the Dreamliner family, the 787-8, is equipped to seat the fewest passengers. Spread across three cabins, United’s 788s can seat 219 passengers — 36 in lie-flat Polaris business class, 70 in economy plus and 113 in standard economy.
Not only do we now have an idea of what UA’s -10 may look like, but new details have surfaced that the carrier may be eyeing Newark (EWR) as a potential Dreamliner hub. United detailed in an employee newsletter on May 2 that it’s in discussions with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) about opening the Dreamliner base at EWR.
In the memo, a managing director for United’s crew resources said that while nothing has been confirmed yet, “the B787-10 is well-suited for European destinations.” The comment could be another clue that the carrier is considering the -10 as its workhorse for European routes.
United declined to comment on the report of EWR becoming a 787 pilot base.
The Chicago-based carrier has placed a firm order for 14 787-10s, the first of which is expected to be delivered later this year. It’s expecting to have three of the aircraft in its fleet by the end of 2018.
In March, Singapore Airlines took delivery of the first-ever 787-10 Dreamliner from Boeing. It has a total of 49 ordered. Other carriers that have placed orders for the -10 include Etihad (30), British Airways (12) and Air France-KLM (8), among others.
Source: thepointsguy.com