United just took delivery of its first premium-heavy Boeing 787-9 with the new long-haul interior—and internal cabin photos shared with employees are giving the first real look at what “United Elevated” actually means.
The images show Polaris Studio, a self-serve snack bar, and a rebalanced 222-seat layout that shifts space from coach to premium cabins ahead of the jet’s March debut and long-haul rollout.
This is the first plane with their new long-haul interior concept, marketed as ‘United Elevated’, with 222 seats: 64 business class – including 8 ‘Polaris Studio’ business-plus seats – 35 premium economy and 123 coach.
United hosts a media day this month, and will host a “United Elevated” event in Los Angeles on March 24, 2026, tied to the debut of the Elevated 787 product. The plane will fly domestically before moving to San Francisco-based long haul – initially operating to London Heathrow and Singapore.
United published a series of photos internally of the new aircraft. Here are some new shots of the business cabin:
Here’s the self-service snack bar:
This is the premium economy seat. I will look forward to seeing it in person, but it doesn’t appear nearly as padded as I’d like to see it for ultra-long haul:
The seatback screens in coach look plenty large, though!
Overall the industrial design of the new American Airlines Boeing 787-9 looks more attractive to me. What do you think of the aesthetics?
United expects 3 more ‘elevated’ Boeing 787-9s over the next month and a half, with 30 total delivered through 2027. All of their future 787 deliveries will come with this new interior, including Polaris Studio suites. This plane adds 16 more business class seats compared to the current configuration and 14 more premium economy seats, while losing seats in coach. Unfortunately, there is no announced plan to retrofit any of their existing aircraft.
The plane also comes delivered with StarLink internet, which is great because broadly speaking regional jets and then mainline domestic planes have seen retrofits first.
(HT: JonNYC for the photos.)
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