United Airlines Begins Flying The First Of Its Reconfigured 767-300 Aircraft

CHICAGO, June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today introduces into international service its newly reconfigured Boeing 767-300 aircraft, with this evening's departure of flight 908 from Chicago to Amsterdam. The aircraft now features flat-bed seats in an all-new United BusinessFirst cabin, along with an upgraded inflight entertainment system throughout.

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The aircraft is the first of 14 to get the new interior, offering 30 seats in United BusinessFirst, 49 in Economy Plus and 135 in Economy. In addition to flat-bed seats, United BusinessFirst offers a 15.4" touchscreen monitor delivering on-demand inflight audio/video content, electrical and USB outlets for charging electronic devices, an iPod jack enabling customers to play content from their iPod-compatible devices and a five-course meal with fine wines. United Economy Plus seats provide more legroom and more recline than Economy seats. Each Economy Plus and Economy seat features a 9" touchscreen on-demand, inflight entertainment system and all Economy rows have access to electrical outlets. On long-haul international flights, United offers Economy Plus and Economy customers complimentary food, soft drinks, juices, tea and coffee.

"We are committed to building an unsurpassed travel experience for our customers," said Jim Compton, United's executive vice president and chief revenue officer. "The reconfigured 767-300 is just one more example of how we are redefining air travel by providing our customers more choice, greater comfort and better value."           

In addition to the interior changes, this 767-300 now includes Winglets for fuel savings.

United Invests in Fleet-Wide Improvements

This modification is part of the $550 million investment in fleet-wide onboard improvements announced last year, which also includes:

• Offering the largest fleet of aircraft with flat-bed seats among U.S. carriers. Nearly 150 United aircraft now offer flat-bed seats in premium cabins. United is retrofitting more than 30 additional aircraft, scheduled for completion by early 2013.
• Expanding extra-legroom economy seating to provide the most such seating of any U.S. carrier. More than 550 United-operated aircraft offer Economy Plus seating, as do 150 larger United Express regional jets. United plans to expand Economy Plus availability to an additional 100 aircraft this year, including United's two-cabin Boeing 777 aircraft, which are scheduled for completion this summer.
• Revamping the transcontinental p.s. fleet. United plans to replace the existing United First and United Business cabins with an all-new United BusinessFirst, modeled after the existing United First service, but also offering flat-bed seats and on-demand inflight audio/video content. The aircraft will feature an inflight entertainment system in individual seat-back monitors for Economy customers as well.
• Introducing inflight connectivity. United expects to introduce satellite-based Wi-Fi later in 2012.
• Improving inflight entertainment options on the Boeing 747-400 fleet. Beginning in the fourth quarter, United plans to offer Economy customers a selection of video programming available for wireless streaming.

About United
United Airlines and United Express operate an average of 5,605 flights a day to 375 airports on six continents from our hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. In 2011, United carried more traffic than any other airline in the world, and operated more than two million flights carrying 142 million passengers. United is upgrading its cabins with more flat-bed seats in first and business class and more extra-legroom economy-class seating than any other airline in North America. United operates nearly 700 mainline aircraft and has orders for more than 125 new aircraft deliveries from 2012 through 2019, including 50 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 25 Airbus A350XWBs. United was rated the world's most admired airline on FORTUNE magazine's 2012 airline-industry list of the World's Most Admired Companies. Readers of Global Traveler magazine have voted United's MileagePlus program the best frequent flyer program for eight consecutive years. United is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 190 countries via 25 member airlines. More than 85,000 United employees reside in every U.S. state and in countries around the world. For more information, visit united.com or follow United on Twitter and Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol UAL.

SOURCE United Continental Holdings, Inc.