Last month I mentioned that United was testing a new configuration on one of its 757s that included leather slimline seats and power outlets. Well, a friend of mine was recently on the aircraft and sent me some pictures to share with everyone.

At left, you can see the view of the seats looking back. It’s a nice blue leather look, and apparently the legroom feels about the same, maybe a little tighter (if that’s possible). They added another row of seats on the plane, but the seats themselves are thinner so it’s mostly a wash.

Notice that one row with an empty spot where a seat used to be? That’s row 16. If you’re booked in that seat and you get stuck on this one aircraft, you’re going to be unhappy. That seat exists on every other aircraft in the fleet, so you’ll have to be re-seated. But that’s minor – let’s not get bogged down.

At right is another view of the seats from the side. You can see that they’ve also freed up some legroom by relocating the seatback pocket. Now you just have some mesh where your legs go (easy for cleaning), but the magazines and safety card sit up top above the tray.

In case you were wondering, the power outlets are underneath the seats. Not easy to find, but when you know where they are, I imagine the placement is pretty convenient for plugging in your electronics. It does, however, block some of the underseat storage area for the middle seat.

This definitely looks like a step forward for United, though I can’t say for sure until I get a chance to ride the airplane myself. Anyone else been onboard?

There’s some good news from United in their ongoing multi-year effort to put their new flat bed business class seat on their airplanes. As of now, every flying 767 that is configured for international service has the new seats. First Class travelers have also seen the end of the crappy 767 seat. There are First Class suites throughout as well.

So let’s think about this from a passenger perspective. What plane do you want to fly in each class of service if you’re on United?

Economy Minus

1. 767 – Coach seats at least have looping in-seat video, and the 2-3-2 configuration means you have a better shot of avoiding a middle than on other planes. You also have a better shot at getting pushed up to Economy Plus since 47% of seats in coach are in that cabin on this plane.




2. 777 – You’ll get the same looping in-seat video for now, but look for this plane to leapfrog the 767 with AVOD once the refurbs begin. The 2-5-2 config means a middle seat is more likely. Still, with 42% of seats in coach in Economy Plus, your upgrade chances are pretty good. (That number rises to 48% after the refurb.)




3. 747 – Avoid this plane at all costs. Not only are there no in-seat entertainment options, but the 3-4-3 configuration makes for an uncomfortable ride for couples. Only 33% of coach seats pre-refurb and 22% of coach seats on refurbed aircraft are Economy Plus on this plane, so upgrades are less likely.

Economy Plus

1. 767 – Not much differentiates this plane from the 777 here except that you have the 2-3-2 configuration. Remember, once the 777 gets AVOD, it will leapfrog this plane.




2. 777 – It’s basically a tie with the 767 except for the configuration.




3. 747 – Again, avoid at all costs if you need entertainment. No in-seat entertainment to speak of.

Business

1. 767 – If you’re on a 767, you will have the new business class seats




2. 747 – More than half the 747s have the new business class seats, but even if you don’t get one, at least you can be on the upper deck




3. 777 – Not a single airplane has the new business class seats, so you should avoid this one

First

1. 767 – This cellar-dweller leaps to the front now that the newly-renovated suites have been installed




2. 747 – More than half the 747s have the refurbed suites, but even if they don’t, you’re still in the nose of the airplane and that’s excellent




3. 777 – Not as big of a gap as in business, the the First suites may be a little tired on some of these planes

Of course, if you’re on a 777 or 767 domestically, you’ll need to see if it’s even an internationally-configured one. Most of the time, it’s not and you’ll just be on a regular domestic-style configuration.

It’s been incredible watching every airline scramble to figure out when and on what planes to install internet. As more and more airlines get wi-fi up and running on more and more planes, they need to address the closely-related problem that has been ignored for too long. How can people power up? American and United are both starting to get serious about addressing the issue, and we should all be happy.

American recently took delivery of a new 737-800. I couldn’t figure out why everyone was making such a big deal about this, especially since they already fly a bunch of them. But these 737s are configured differently. Yes, they’ve crammed two more rows of seats on these planes (claiming that the seats are thinner so the experience is no different, but I can’t verify without sitting in it myself). The big news, however, is that there are now two power outlets for every set of three seats on board in coach.

Admittedly, American has been ahead of many when it comes to power, but this is a big step forward. Not only will there be two for every three seats (and one per seat in First Class), but these are regular 110V outlets, not those annoying cigarette lighter ones that require an adapter. Of course, they say wi-fi will be coming soon on these planes – these go hand in hand.

Then we have United. The airline is testing a modified 757 which will look somewhat similar to the American product. There will be thinner seats (all leather) so they can squeeze in an extra row of seats. But United has also decided to put two power outlets per row of three and one per seat in First Class. These are also standard 110V outlets that require no adapter. This is only on one test plane, but I can’t imagine them bothering with this test if they didn’t have real plans to implement it on a broader scale.

This is all great news. Airlines have finally come to the realization that this is something that’s really important to travelers, especially if they’re going to be able to connect to the internet onboard. Of course, Virgin America launched with power outlets like this, and they’ll be done installing inflight internet on every plane within a month. So this can be considered “closing the gap” for the legacy guys, but it’s a welcome change that hopefully everyone will adopt.

The growing popularity of the premium economy cabin continues as Air France has decided that the time has come to roll out “Premium Voyageur” on their widebodies. Upon first glance, it looks like a strong entry.

Premium Voyageur just sounds fancy, right? I mean, without that last “u” in there, it’s just plain, old “Premium Voyager,” and that would have been boring. Of course I’m kidding. I don’t care what you call it as long as the product is good. Take a look:

They’ve gone with a shell seat that will apparently recline into itself (up to 123 degrees). The seat is about an inch or two wider than average – about 19 inches – and the armrests are wider so you don’t have to fight your neighbor. A 38 inch seat pitch seems to be about standard for premium economy. (Note: I’m talking about a real premium economy class and not United’s Economy Plus.) Some amenities come from business (now branded Affaires) class. You get a little travel kit when you fly, and you’ll get a bottle of water, noise-reducing headphones, and a better pillow and blanket. The food, however, is strictly coach class.

As you would probably hope, the benefit isn’t just on the aircraft. You get priority check-in at the airport, priority baggage delivery, and all that other fun stuff that comes with being a premium traveler.

Overall, it looks like they’ve done a nice job As budgets tighten, many business class travelers may look at this as a decent option. They gave some sample pricing of about $1,400 on a roundtrip from Paris to New York, so that can save thousands over a higher class of service.

But I’d bet they’re really looking at this as an opportunity for coach passengers to buy up. At least, that’s how the seat map looks. The business and first class cabins are keeping the same number of seats while the coach cabin loses. On a 777, coach loses 50 seats in coach and gains 28 Premium Voyageur instead.

These seats will be up for sale on some routes on April 1 with installations starting soon after. Looks like Paris to New York, Tokyo, and Osaka will get outfitted first.

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