United Airlines is teasing a type of airplane that is due to join its fleet in the coming months, and while the Chicago-based carrier is keeping the details very under wraps, we now know that the aircraft will go by the name of ‘Coastliner.’
The question is: What exactly is a Coastliner?
While nothing has been confirmed (yet), we’re starting to get a good sense of what this aircraft is from various insider sources, including the ever-reliable JonNYC, who has been sharing some information on X.
United’s Coastliner is a regular Airbus A321neo, of which the airline has many on order. The Coastliner version will be a subfleet of United’s A321neo order, comprising 40 aircraft that will operate transcontinental flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to New York area airports.
Inside, United plans to equip its Coastliners with a total of 161 seats, comprising 20 fully-flat Business Class seats in a 1-1 configuration, 12 Premium Economy seats in a 2-2 configuration, and finally, 129 economy class seats in a standard 3-3 configuration.
Given the fact that United is planning to dedicate as many as 40 of its new A321neos to the Coastliner fleet, you can expect the airline to use these planes to replace the existing Boeing 757-200s that operate premium transcontinental routes, as well as other widebody planes that it has tied up in these markets.
To give a sense of just how big this sub-fleet is, analysts suggest that 40 A321s could operate at least 60 round-trip flights between the East and West coasts. They’ll connect Los Angeles and San Francisco with United’s hub in Newark, as well as New York JFK when the airline returns to the airport.
News of United’s Coastliner first emerged on Thursday when photos of the aircraft emerging from the paint workshop at the Airbus factory in Hamburg were shared online.
In response, United shared a video of the plane getting painted, but the airline remained tightlipped on all the remaining details.
For example, we can’t yet confirm the inside configuration, despite how reliable multiple sources are, nor can we confirm exactly what routes these planes will fly or when they will enter into service.
What we do know is that United chief executive Scott Kirby has been teasing some big announcements for 2026, and a revamped approach to transcontinental flights would certainly be something to shout about.
Quick facts:
- Aircraft: Airbus A321neo
- Code: internally known as the A321LF
- Capacity: 161 seats including 20 lie-flat Business Class seats and 12 Premium Economy Seats.
- Routes: Likely Los Angeles and San Francisco to Newark and New York JFK
- Entry into service: TBC
That seating config is more dense than AA’s XLR doing the same route