United Airlines has comfirmed that it is developing a new Economy Class product for its soon to debut Airbus A321XLR single-aisle aircraft that will replace aging Boeing 757s on flights to smaller cities in Europe which features a ‘perma-tray’ that locks over the middle seat in a row of three.
The concept is similar to what some airlines in Europe have used for many years to differentiate their short-haul Business Class cabins, which are essentially just standard Economy Class seats but with the middle seat blocked out.
The additional tray gives passengers extra space to store small items or have a cocktail, while their normal meal tray that extends down from the seat in from can be used for other tasks like working on a laptop.
The concept first emerged when a photo of United’s perma-tray product leaked on Reddit, and United has since confirmed that it is actively developing the product, but only for its Airbus A321XLR aircraft.
Officially, United says that the perma-tray product is just one of many new products that the airline is testing to “further differentiate ourselves within the industry and add even more value to the experience of flying United.”
Unofficially, howeve, it’s actually suspected that the airline has another motivation behind the concept, and that’s the reduce the number of flight attendants that are required to work on the A321XLRs.
United has a total of 50 Airbus A321XLRs on order which will be configured in a premium-heavy layout with 20 Polaris fully-lie-flat Business Class seats, 12 Premium Plus seats, and 120 economy class seats.
That makes a total of 152 seats.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires commercial passenger planes with more than 100 seats to have two flight attendants for the first 100 seats, and then an additional flight attendant for each unit (or part of a unit) of 50 passengers above 100.
In other words, the minimum number of flight attendants required to work on United’s A321XLRs is four, even though the fourth is tedhnically required only for two seats. By blocking two middle seats with perma-trays, United can potentially reduce the number of flight attendants required to work on this aircraft to just three.
It should be noted that the FAA does still require four flight attendants on aircraft that have only 150 seats when it also features Business Class suites with sliding privacy doors – just like the United Airbus A321XLR will feature.
This was an additional element added to the FAA’s minimum flight attendant staffing requirements as a result of union lobbying that argued the process of locking and unlocking sliding privacy doors for takeoff and landing takes extra time and that an additional crew member is required to ensure that no time is wasted in the event of an emergency situation.
How do flight attendants crewing levels differ?
- United’s standard Airbus A321neo configuration features a total of 200 seats = Four flight attendants
- United’s new Coastliner Airbus A321s will have a total of 162 seats = Four flight attendants
- United’s Airbus A321XLRs will only have 150 seats (because two Economy seats will be blocked out with a perma-tray) but because the plane features Business Class suites with doors an additional crew members is required = Four flight attendants
That being said, United could mandate that the sliding privacy doors are locked in the open position, essentially bypassing that rule in order to reduce the flight attendant headcount to just three crew members.
This isn’t United’s stated plan, however, with the airline saying that its intention is to staff the Airbus A321XLR with four flight attendants.
From what United seems to be suggesting, while the perma-trays can be removed from the middle seat and stored underneath, essentially opening up the seat to be occupied by a passenger, the airline intends to keep the tray permanently in place.
The idea is then to monetize the concept for passengers sitting in the very first row of Economy Class behind Premium Plus.
This could be a welcome upgrade for passengers eager for some additional shoulder space on long-haul flights across the Atlantic Ocean that the A321XLR will operate. Thanks to an additional fuel tanks, the A321XLR is cpable of flying 7,500 kilometers, which is around 15% further than the A321LR, which is already used by several airlines for long-haul transatlantic flights, including JetBlue.
United plans to take delivery of 28 Airbus A321XLRs by April 2028, with the remainder of its 5 aircraft order joining the fleet in subsequent years.
The A321XLRs will replace routes already operated by soon to be retired Boeing 757s, while also allowing the airline to open new destinations in Europe and South America that don’t have the demand to warrant the capacity of a widebody aircraft (or the expense that comes with operating a dual-aisle aircraft).
Airbus designed the A321XLR to lower operating costs for airlines, as the aircraft is able to fly long distances much more efficiently than a widebody aircraft. This is particularly useful at a time that jet fuel prices are set to remain significantly elevated for quite some time.
The challenge, however, is convincing passengers that the A321XLR offers the same comfort levels as a widebody aircraft.
