The Future Of Flying First Class

With the quality of business class products rising, what’s the prognosis for premium seating?

- Clement Huang

The aviation industry appears to be reassessing the value of first class. Some still think of it as integral to their service offering, but there are those who have decided to eliminate the cabin class from their aircraft altogether. United is one such airline. This December the carrier is set to introduce a slew of business class improvements, which will see it transform the existing BusinessFirst product into United Polaris – named after the brightest star in the Ursa Minor constellation.

First on the list is a brand new international business class seat, which can turn into a 180-degree fully-flat bed measuring six foot six inches. The new Polaris pods will be arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, ensuring direct aisle access for all customers. The seat will come with standard business-friendly amenities such as power outlets and USB charging ports. The cabin will also offer enhanced inflight services and an all-new menu.

Finally, the airline will also introduce a new United Polaris lounge concept when it opens a new facility at Chicago O’Hare on Dec. 1. The concept will subsequently be introduced in eight other locations – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, New York/ Newark, Washington Dulles, Tokyo Narita, Hong Kong and London Heathrow in 2017.

While United Polaris signals the airline’s continued investment in its premium offerings, customers hoping to see improvements made in Global First are likely to be disappointed. The Star Alliance member has previously stated its intention to gradually remove that travel class from its portfolio, calling international first class “a losing business.”