Fleet-Wide Upgrades To Cabins Includes Flat-Bed Seats, Onboard Wireless

United Continental Holdings today says it plans to invest more than a half-billion dollars in its onboard product. The company said in a news release that these and other planned product changes come in addition to the 25 new aircraft – including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner – that the airline will introduce to its fleet next year. United and Continental have each made significant product and service improvements over the past several years and since the airlines closed their merger Oct. 1, 2010.

The plans include the installation of flat-bed seating on 62 additional long-haul aircraft, bringing total aircraft with flat-bed seats to 185; adding Economy Plus seating and Channel 9 air traffic control audio to more than 300 aircraft; nearly doubling the overhead storage space on more than 150 aircraft; installing advanced broadband Wi-Fi on more than 200 aircraft; introducing streaming wireless video onboard its 747-400 aircraft; completely retrofitting its p.s. fleet with flat-bed seats, Economy Plus, on-demand audio and video and Wi-Fi.

"We are making very good progress building the world's leading airline," said Jeff Smisek, president and chief executive officer of United Continental Holdings, Inc. "When we announced our merger, we committed to building an airline that our co-workers would want to work for, our customers would want to fly, and our investors would want to invest in. These product enhancements announced today, coupled with our unbeatable route network and loyalty program, will provide an unsurpassed travel experience for our customers. We are planning many other product enhancements, both on the ground and in the air, which we will announce in the future."

In September, United will begin installing all-new flat-bed seats, on-demand audio and video programming and iPod connectivity in the premium cabins on 26 Boeing 767s – 12 Continental 767-400 aircraft and 14 United 767-300 aircraft. The company will also upgrade 767-400s with extra-legroom Economy Plus seating and the Channel 9 air traffic control audio channel, which all United aircraft have today. The 26 aircraft, which primarily serve trans-Atlantic, Latin and Hawaiian markets, will offer BusinessFirst and Economy cabins.

Ongoing upgrades to First, Business and Economy class on the airline's three-cabin Boeing 777 aircraft will continue, with 17 of 46 aircraft currently offering flat-bed seats and advanced in-flight entertainment in First and Business and on-demand video in Economy. United will retrofit more than a dozen additional 777 aircraft this year.

United will begin installing Economy Plus seating on all Continental mainline aircraft this fall, and beginning in March 2012, the airline will nearly double the size of the overhead bins on all 152 of its Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft.

United is also planning a complete nose-to-tail renovation of its popular p.s. fleet, which serves the New York Kennedy to San Francisco and Los Angeles markets. When completed in 2013, p.s. aircraft will offer flat-bed seats, Economy Plus, power ports at every row, on-demand audio and video and Wi-Fi service.

FMI: www.unitedcontinentalholdings.com