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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
MARCH 2012
UNITEDISNOW
offeringEconomyPlus seating
on all long-haul international Boeing 757-200
flights, providing economy customers the
option of 6 inches of extra legroom.
The 41 ai rcraft operate pr incipal ly
between New York/Newark and Amsterdam,
Barcelona, Belfast, Berlin, Birmingham,
Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt,
Glasgow, Hamburg, Lima, Lisbon, London,
Madrid, Manchester, Oslo, Paris, Shannon,
Stockholmand Stu gart, and betweenWash-
ington Dulles and Amsterdam and Paris.
The 757-200 reconf iguration project,
which began in late November, outfits those
aircraft with 1,845 Economy Plus seats.
Each aircraft will have 16 flat-bed seats in
BusinessFirst, 45 seats in Economy Plus and
108 seats in economy.
Customers with Premier status in United’s
MileagePlus and OnePass frequent flyer
programs may confirm complimentary seat
assignments inEconomy Plus, when available.
All other customers may buy Economy Plus
seating, when available, online at united.com,
with a reservations agent or at the airport.
United introduced Economy Plus in 1999.
Today, the company offers the extra-legroom
seating on more than 400 mainline aircra
and more than 150 regional jets. When fully
deployed, United will offer customers more
extra-legroom economy-class seats than any
other airline in the world.
ASKTHEPILOT
With Captain Mike Bowers
Q: Why do airplanes
sometimes acceler-
ate and then reduce
speed—repeatedly, in
some cases—as they’re
preparing to land?
A:
You’re most likely
sensing the power
changing back and
forth during the
landing approach, which
certainly can feel like a
change in speed. That
throttle movement is
intended to keep the
aircraft at a steady
speed throughout
the approach and
landing. Landing an
aircraft requires pilots to
maintain a much more
precise speed than in
cruise flight. Because of
changing wind currents
and other factors, we
must adjust the power
settings to maintain that
desired speed. The more
the wind is gusting, the
more corrections we
need to make in the
power setting. So it’s not
the speed that is chang-
ing at all—it’s the pilot
adjusting the power to
prevent
the speed from
changing.
Do you have a question
for Captain Bowers? Write
to him at askthepilot@
united.com.
Economy Plus Comfort
on International Flights
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