Only 167 Seats: This Is Where United Airlines Flies Its High Premium Boeing 767s

Only 167 Seats: This Is Where United Airlines Flies Its High Premium Boeing 767s

• United Airlines’ high-J Boeing 767s are based on achieving much higher unit revenue, offsetting higher unit costs.
• They have very few regular economy seats, helping with revenue quality.
• Between April and October, they are used on 15 routes from Newark, Chicago O’Hare, and Washington Dulles.

United Airlines is the world’s largest long-haul operator. Before the pandemic struck, it started reducing the number of seats on its Boeing 767-300ERs from 214 to just 167, a drop of 21%, as part of a full retrofit.

At a time when many airlines were densifying aircraft by adding more seats to reduce seat-mile costs (as they continue to do), this was a bold move. It meant higher unit costs from far fewer seats to spread over the sector costs. However, the carrier bet on even higher unit revenue from many more premium seats and a far smaller economy cabin.

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A very quick summary

According to ch-aviation, United has 37 Boeing 767-300ERs, but not all are active. They average 28.1 years, meaning they’re the oldest variant in its vast fleet. The 757-200 is next (27.2 years).

United has 24 767-300ERs in a low-capacity, high-premium, 167-seat layout. It is, of course, by far its lowest-capacity twin-aisle. It has less than half the seats of its largest widebody, the so-called domestic non-Extended Range 777-200.

The 167-seat subfleet has 46 Polaris suites, 22 Premium Plus recliners, 43 seats in Economy Plus, and just 56 seats in bog-standard economy. Wow. The high-J 767 has more Polaris seats than any other type/variant in its fleet except the 787-9 (48), 777-200ER (50), and 777-300ER (60).

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Where the high-J 767 is flying

According to OAG data, the 167-seater entered service between Newark and London Heathrow in March 2019, with Chicago O’Hare-Heathrow following in July. Naturally, the premium nature of the subfleet works well to Heathrow. In 2024, the UK’s busiest airport has more than one in two of the high-J flights (55%).

It has the bonus of having very few simple economy seats to fill, helping to improve overall revenue quality. It has less of a need to compete for the lowest end of the market.

Based on IATA slot seasons, United will switch to summer schedules on Sunday, March 31, and winter schedules on October 27. Looking at April-October shows that 15 routes will see the 167-seater from Newark (73% of flights), Chicago O’Hare (25%), and Washington Dulles (2%). They include multiple routes that will run in the winter.

• Chicago-Heathrow: triple daily
• Chicago-Paris CDG: daily from September 3
• Chicago-Zurich: daily
• Newark-Frankfurt: daily from October 26
• Newark-Geneva: daily
• Newark-Heathrow: six daily, rising to seven daily from October 27
• Newark-Marrakech: a brand-new route, served three weekly from October 24
• Newark-Munich: daily May 2-May 22, swaps to other equipment, then daily from July 23
• Newark-Naples: daily until May 22, then double daily until September 24, then daily until it ends for the season on October 25
• Newark-Nice: daily until it ends for the season on October 25
• Newark-Paris CDG: daily
• Newark-Zurich: daily
• Washington Dulles-Geneva: daily until May 1, swaps to other equipment, then daily from October 26
• Washington Dulles-Heathrow: May 2 only, then double daily from October 26
• Washington Dulles-Zurich: daily from October 26

Want to fly? Then get tickets here!

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Have you flown the carrier’s 167-seaters? If so, let us know your experience by leaving a comment.