New Service Features Modern Cabin, Self-Serve Snack Bar, and More. Here’s My Review…
On Thursday, November 30th, United Airlines introduced their first Airbus A321-200NEO to their active fleet. The aircraft, N44501, an Airbus A321-271NX operated the inaugural flight from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Fittingly, the flight number 321 was assigned to the flight. I took that inaugural flight, as well as the aircraft’s second and third flights from Chicago to Phoenix and back. In total, I spent around 12 hours on the aircraft in various seats so I could get a good sense of whether this really is a game changing aircraft like United claims, or if it’s all smoke and mirrors. United has billed the A321NEO as the future of what passengers can expect on all domestic United flights, and a game changer in passenger comfort in all cabins. So, does United’s new plane live up to the hype? Or is it more of the same old stuff?
United Adds The Largest of the 320 series to their Airbus Fleet
Before I answer that question, let’s get some of the facts out of the way. United already operates a fleet of Airbus A320 series aircraft, however, they are aging Airbus A319’s and A320’s, all of which are over 20 years old at this point. Which means the introduction of this brand new A321NEO marks the first time in over two decades that Untied has taken delivery of a brand-new Airbus. United has 129 further Airbus A321-200NX aircraft on order, as well as another 50 Airbus A321-200XLR aircraft. The NX variant is the high density exit configuration option of the NEO, which replaces the full-size exit doors ahead and aft of the wings with four window plug exits. American and Delta also operate the NX variant and for comparison, Hawaiian Airlines operates the regular A321-200N, where the full-size exits are kept.
United’s A321NEO features 200 seats which include 20 United First seats, 57 United Economy Plus seats, and 123 United Economy seats. The aircraft also features four restrooms for those 200 seats. Three in the economy class section and one in the first-class section. United plans to use the aircraft initially out of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to Phoenix, Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Fort Myers. Currently, with only one aircraft in active service, it is only being utilized on the Chicago to Phoenix route.
How was the experience?
So, what was the aircraft like to fly on? Does it deserve the hype that United placed on it? The bottom line is that… It was very nice to fly on, and if you’re lucky enough to fly on one soon, you are in for a great onboard experience. It is easily one of the best aircraft flying domestically in the US where passenger experience is concerned.
As I mentioned, I took the aircraft’s first three revenue flights. I did not have the pleasure of flying in first class on any of the legs, but I did get a chance to try the seat. On the three flights I flew in United Economy Plus twice, and once in United Economy. My seats for the three flights were 11A, 26F, and 14A. 14A being the one standard economy seat. United does have their A321NEO configured with more seats than both Delta and American have on theirs, but in my opinion, the seat features make up for the 4-6 extra passengers United is cramming on. Even in economy, passengers get a large 13” touch-controlled entertainment screen, power ports, high speed wifi, and even Bluetooth audio connectivity on the entertainment system. That’s right, you can pair your own Bluetooth headphones to the entertainment screen and no longer must give up your nice wireless headphones for a cheap airline pair because yours doesn’t have a cord to plug in.
I found all three seats to be very comfortable, and on two of the flights I was in them for over 4 hours at a time. There are those good old hour-long Chicago taxi times for you… The legroom in first class and economy plus was excellent, and it was average in economy. At 6’ 2” tall, my knees basically rested against the seat back pocket in front of me when in regular economy. Which is not good, but also isn’t anything different than American’s A321NEO and you don’t get most of the extra passenger comforts like an inflight entertainment screen on American.
The cabin of the aircraft also features mood lighting, easily making it be most visually appealing United domestic aircraft and a snack bar that economy class passengers use any time during the flight if they’re feeling hungry or thirsty. And just because that snack bar is available, doesn’t mean there were any less services done during the flights. On all three flights I took there was a main service done, as well as a second full drink service. So, don’t think this is United’s way of getting out of doing services. It really is just an extra option for passengers.
Summarizing my A321-NEO Experience
In the end, this is a great addition to the United fleet, and it is a very passenger friendly aircraft. The fact that Untied is moving most of their fleet towards this type of passenger experience is very nice when so many other airlines are removing more and more amentias. Even though United has a slightly denser configuration compared to American or Delta, I think the seats re very comfortable, easy to fly in for 4-5 hours, and the aircraft offers a much better than usual onboard experience. Ultimately, I believe this aircraft does live up to most of the hype!
Full video of flight:
Enjoy all two plus hours of United’s A321NEO first flight.
