UNITED NOT FIRST CLASS
THE PREFLIGHT
Those who read my work on a regular basis know I’m not a fan of North American carriers. Have a peek at my NEW MEMOS tab to check out who are the top rated Airlines of the World. The top four in the Business Class category include my go to airlines SINGAPORE and EMIRATES . BEST BUSINESS CLASS 1 Qatar Airways,2 Singapore Airlines, 3 ANA All Nippon Airways, 4 Emirates. If you’re flying around Canada and the U.S.A though, your economical options are limited and I often find myself taking United to get about the neighbourhood. I will say that United’s service has improved and the price is right on most segments if you shop around a bit.
SEATS AND CABIN
This United flight started in Toronto and had 2 stops prior to arriving in Albuquerque. The first leg to Chicago was in a A319. The seat in this first class cabin has a 37 pitch and 20 width. I’m over six feet and as you can see above that’s a little cramped. Just for comparison; a seat on Emirates business class has a 48 pitch and 19 width. The flight was late and the connection was so tight ( even without a delay) I found myself running from terminal to terminal (could they not keep connecting flights in the same terminal?) for the first time in my life. All the other flights had very tight connections as well. Why would they do this to their customers?
I flew on a Grand old Bird from ORD to Denver. The pitch here is 38 and the width is 21 however seat 1B has a foot alcove that allows tall folks like myself to stretch. The service was good and the Chicken Thai hit the spot.
The return from Albuquerque was on a 737-900 which also has seats offering 38 pitch and 21 width. Still found this challenging for a 6 foot 3 gentlemen. Service was good again and the meal was a fairly healthy beef with veggies.
THE DEBRIEF
When the competition doesn’t really exist this is the result. Not just United, but all North American carriers need to step it up a notch. For now the domestic flying public will suffer with products like this. This has become the “new norm” and people are just happy to get there.
