When are United going to get some new long-haul planes?!
Discussion
It seems that every time I have to fly on United trans-Atlantic I end up on the world's most knackered old Boeing 767-300. Yesterday's flight was delayed by getting on for four hours due to a water leak in one of the bathrooms, on the outbound flight a number of the screens weren't working and in terms of comfort they're terrible. The screens are 5.6" and so pixelated you can't read the subtitles on the safety video, the seats are saggy and collapsed, and there are no power points anywhere in the economy cabins.
These planes are over 25 years old now, surely that's getting towards the end of their useful life? The maintenance guy at Newark said something along the lines of 'the plane is so old of course things go wrong with it' when asked how often this happened by another passenger. According to Wikipedia they still have 35 of these in the air, and no obvious replacements planned, so I guess I'm going to have to endure them for a bit longer still.
These planes are over 25 years old now, surely that's getting towards the end of their useful life? The maintenance guy at Newark said something along the lines of 'the plane is so old of course things go wrong with it' when asked how often this happened by another passenger. According to Wikipedia they still have 35 of these in the air, and no obvious replacements planned, so I guess I'm going to have to endure them for a bit longer still.
Sadly my choice is very limited, I generally need to connect to another airport in the US not served directly from here. Every time United are $500 or more cheaper than Swiss and my corporate travel policy won't allow me to take the more expensive option on the grounds that the in-flight-entertainment screen doesn't make the grade 
I think they do, but I've never been on anything other than a 767 with them. A couple of times it has been a newer one (767-400 I guess) but the bulk of the trips have been on planes built when I was still in primary school. These are all on routes from Heathrow or Zürich to various US destinations (Houston, Dulles, Newark, Chicago).
I guess I'm just surprised that a major carrier is still operating these really. The first time I just assumed it was a late change to a 'spare' aircraft but it's actually normal for them to be used. I figured with fuel use and reliability they'd have been pensioned off by now, but I guess BA's 747 fleet isn't far off this age.
In fact, my outbound flight was on a different plane to what was planned after a mechanical issue with the original one...
I guess I'm just surprised that a major carrier is still operating these really. The first time I just assumed it was a late change to a 'spare' aircraft but it's actually normal for them to be used. I figured with fuel use and reliability they'd have been pensioned off by now, but I guess BA's 747 fleet isn't far off this age.
In fact, my outbound flight was on a different plane to what was planned after a mechanical issue with the original one...
Eric Mc said:
Airliners generally have a life span of 20 to 25 years with their original owners. BA is still operating most of its 747-400s which began to be delivered around 1989. Some of their 767s are also of a similar vintage.
It's not that big a problem as long as the aircraft are maintained well.
Generally it's the interior fittings that end up looking a bit dated and lacking some of the more exotic mod-cons that are fitted to newer airliners.
Last year I flew on a couple of BA Boeing 737-400s - which were around 25 years old. They did look a bit jaded but there was no point in refurbishing their interiors as they were due to be withdrawn soon.
So the one I flew on yesterday is 'only' 22 years oldIt's not that big a problem as long as the aircraft are maintained well.
Generally it's the interior fittings that end up looking a bit dated and lacking some of the more exotic mod-cons that are fitted to newer airliners.
Last year I flew on a couple of BA Boeing 737-400s - which were around 25 years old. They did look a bit jaded but there was no point in refurbishing their interiors as they were due to be withdrawn soon.
https://planefinder.net/data/aircraft/N658UA
According to the bible which is Wikipedia, they don't have anything on order to replace these, all their Dreamliner orders are for the larger versions so I guess they plan to keep running them for some time to come.
Boozy said:
They use the 777 at different times, just check when you're booking the flight.
Not from Zürich unfortunately.The cabin crew were great on the last leg actually (or two of them were anyway) but in general they're pretty miserable, although that seems to be the case on most of the older carriers.
The problem is that when the company is paying it comes down to route, time and price and nothing else matters. I'd much prefer to fly Swiss to EWR and then switch to United for the domestic leg but it seldom works out that way.
Don't worry, with in flight entertainment systems like this the time will fly by 
Don't bank on the plane having any power points, so make sure any devices are charged pre-flight. I take a big-ish battery booster pack (Anker one from Amazon) so I can charge my phone and iPad while I'm in the air.
The entertainment system is so useless it might as well not be there to be honest, the screens are so dark and fuzzy you can't see anything, I'd rather watch a movie on a mobile phone.
Don't bank on the plane having any power points, so make sure any devices are charged pre-flight. I take a big-ish battery booster pack (Anker one from Amazon) so I can charge my phone and iPad while I'm in the air.
The entertainment system is so useless it might as well not be there to be honest, the screens are so dark and fuzzy you can't see anything, I'd rather watch a movie on a mobile phone.
DMN said:
I flew United to Newark from Birmingham last January. The seat was a little cramped, I'm six two and it was just ok. The food and inflight film selection was good. They had a chickpea curry that was very tasty.
I flew back with Lufthansa. They had more leg room and free red wine, but the films where worse.
United had free wine this time too! I think it's a recent change, but they had red, white or beer FoC, and charged for spirits and 'premium wines'. I'm sure last time I flew with them any alcohol was paid for so this is a significant improvement when you have a 9 hour daytime flight.I flew back with Lufthansa. They had more leg room and free red wine, but the films where worse.
towser44 said:
Haven't United got Dreamliners now, the 787-9 variety? At least one of the daily services to Heathrow is a Dreamliner and think they do Frankfurt and/or Amsterdam too. Seen them on Flightradar many time over the house.
They have a handful, but still have 40+ 767s, most of which are 20+ years old, and not enough Dreamliners on order to replace thenBrabusMog said:
Try Iberia from MAD to SJO. Had to take that flight 6 times I think, never again.
I don't do Iberia. Full stop. I'd rather fly United, via Dulles, than use them. In fact, that's exactly what I did as I could have flown to Madrid and gone direct to Mexico from there but frankly I'd rather swim.The worst leg on this trip was actually from Mexico to Chicago on a decrepit old A320 with no legroom and stuffed with badly behaved kids, fatties, and people with questionable personal hygiene. I imagine that's what a Jet 2 flight from Leeds to Malaga would be like...
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