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The upcoming United Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 “Elevated” interior seats are poised to set up a direct showdown with American Airlines’ new premium-configured 787-9s, which feature Flagship Suite seating. United Airlines is rebalancing the Dreamliner toward high-margin demand as it adds a new, higher-priced United Polaris Studio. A few extra-large seats will also be located at the front of aircraft cabins. The new product not only refreshes the standard Polaris suite with doors and larger screens, but also expands Premium Plus and trims the economy cabin. American’s approach is rather different but equally aggressive, as its premium Boeing 787-9 program scales a large Flagship Suite cabin across a growing subfleet, all while adding a redesigned Premium Economy cabin.
The airline is emphasizing that this new seat will become its new Flagship ground-to-air product, featuring priority handling, lounges, and a signature lounge seating mode. For travelers, the practical shift here is a premium that is becoming a ladder rather than a single cabin unto itself. United Airlines is explicitly creating two business tiers (Polaris Studio and standard Polaris), so that high-spending customers can still access Polaris, while top-of-market clients will pay more for an even larger suite configuration. American Airlines is betting on breadth and frequency, with premium capacity only continuing to grow. We analyze the increasing competition between these two airlines and their premium products.
The Seat-Count Chess Move
The United Airlines Elevated Boeing 787-9 is a flashy move in the world of cabin refreshes. Instead of just upgrading finishes, United Airlines is fundamentally altering the geometry of the aircraft. Eight Polaris Studio seats sit at the front of the cabin, with the standard Polaris expanding to 56 suites, and Premium Plus growing to 35 seats. This ultimately adds up to 99 premium seats and a slimmer economy cabin of 123 seats, split between Economy Plus and standard Economy.
The comparison point here is United’s existing Boeing 787-9 layout that features 48 Polaris seats, 21 Premium Plus seats, and a much larger economy-class cabin, which ultimately means that the new aircraft trades volume for cabin yield. Against American Airlines and its rapidly growing premium product offering, this is certainly a competitive set of cabins. These are meant to be a counter to the American Airlines 787-9P program, with that aircraft carrying 244 passengers and offering 51 in Flagship Suite seating.
On paper, American Airlines offers fewer total business suites than United’s combination of Studio and Polaris, but it concentrates them into a single branded experience and pairs them with a consistent Flagship ground product. The airline is ultimately choosing a different lever: creating two separate price points within the business class cabin, and then letting corporate contracts and MileagePlus upgrades fill the rest of the seats. For investors and those reviewing the airline’s financials, this premium-heavy mix is extremely favorable as it offers incredibly high operating margins.
Polaris Studio: United’s New Upsell Layer
The United Airlines Polaris Studio is the airline’s direct response to the newest generation of business-plus seats that have entered the market. The airline is looking to introduce a cabin that can command a genuine price premium over the airline’s Polaris seats. This is as opposed to offering a completely separate first class experience. Only eight Studio suites will be installed on each Elevated Boeing 787-9, and six of those will include an ottoman with a seatbelt that can be used by a companion, according to documents published by the airline.
This turns the front row of the aircraft into a social space instead of a pod set to be used by a single traveler. United Airlines is also making the hardware feel unmistakably different, with a massive 27-inch 4K OLED screen, wireless charging, and Bluetooth headphone pairing all being notable touches. The carrier is also set to use premium materials like wool-blend upholstery. The soft product is also designed to command higher price premiums on these routes, including an Ossetra caviar course, upgraded amenity kits with luxury skincare, hoodie pajamas and slippers, and elevated boarding and transfer perks that mimic international carriers’ first class routines.
The parallel product offered by 
American Airlines to the market right now is the Flagship Suite Preferred, which also includes just eight seats per aircraft that are marketed as the best beds within the airline’s flagship cabin. In other words, both carriers are converging on the same market, as they try to target the needs of a unique subset of passengers willing to pay impressive premiums for seats that are a clear-cut above the business class standard. This ultimately keeps long-haul routes profitable across different airlines and seasons.
Why American Airlines Doesn’t Want Flagship First Class Anymore
In 2022, the airline confirmed that it would eliminate its so-called Flagship First class.
Premium With Scale: American’s New Flagship Suites
The new American Airlines premium Boeing 787-9P is less about inventing a new tier of premium cabin but more about scaling the airline’s modern, front-of-the-market suite product across its fleet quickly. This aircraft features 51 Flagship Suite seats, with eight flagged as Flagship Suite Preferred, alongside 32 Premium Economy seats and a 161-seat main cabin. This demonstrates a deliberate shift away from older widebody layouts that leaned more heavily on overall volume economics.
Product cues are tuned to long-haul market expectations, with the carrier offering privacy doors, wireless charging, USB-C and AC power, as well as Bluetooth connectivity across both cabins. American Airlines is also trying to differentiate itself with seat ergonomics, with the Flagship Suite’s lounge mode giving flyers multiple options for their posture. This can meaningfully improve the quality of passenger rest on multiple long-haul overnight sectors.
Unlike United Airlines’ two-tier business strategy, American’s product segmentation occurs within the same cabin and through its ground experience. The carrier offers priority services and Flagship lounge access, both of which are key components of the cabin’s value proposition, in addition to the seat itself. Furthermore, the airline is already putting these aircraft to work with 30 more Boeing 787-9P models on order, making this a program with clear and present momentum rather than a random experiment.
The Next Generation Of Premium Cabin Technology
One of the quiet places where these two airlines are competing is technology, as it is the element of the overall passenger experience that travelers can analyze every minute, should they so choose. United Airlines is going all-in on having larger screens, with massive OLED monitors in Polaris Studio and large ones across its premium cabins. The introduction of Bluetooth pairing and abundant charging is also valuable for the carrier.
United Airlines is effectively saying that its new cabins will be equipped for personal devices, not just airline headphones that connect via wires and a single USB port. The other major swing factor here is connectivity, as United has positioned these Elevated 787-9s to become some of the first widebody aircraft to offer Starlink WiFi to MileagePlus members. This is a big jump, as WiFi reliability is now something passengers are required to purchase.
American Airlines is also fully involved in this race, with its premium Boeing 787-9 offering seatback entertainment throughout the cabin alongside high-speed WiFi and power at every seat. Bluetooth connectivity and massive 4K OLED screens highlight a complete onboard product redesign. While United Airlines and American differ in their messaging, both are actually selling relatively similar versions of the same flagship product. In practice, the winner will be the carrier with WiFi that works the most consistently, given that this tends to be the most important technological amenity for business travelers.
Why American Airlines Doesn’t Want Flagship First Class Anymore
In 2022, the airline confirmed that it would eliminate its so-called Flagship First class.
A Highly-Anticipated Soft-Product Race
While hard products tend to capture the headlines, it is often soft product details that determine whether people will quietly book travel with a different carrier the next time they travel. United Airlines is explicitly turning its Polaris product into an experience, not just a seat. The airline is planning to introduce a new caviar service and premium wine pairings, as well as upgraded skincare-focused amenity kits, new pajamas, and more ritualized touches meant to make the cabin feel more like a destination in its own right.
Regular Polaris seats are going to be improved as well. With suite doors coming alongside service improvements like the sundae cart upgrade. American’s operational playbook is more classic, as it treats flagship suites as a new product and standardizes the elements premium travelers are increasingly expecting.
Passengers in this cabin can certainly expect multi-course meals with curated wine lists as well as branded amenity kits. Where American can gain leverage is on the ground, as its Flagship ecosystem (especially its Flagship dining experience) is attractive to customers and can command a price premium under the correct conditions.
Where Are These Airlines Rolling Out These Cabins?
Timing ultimately matters for these carriers as premium products can only change market shares when airlines roll them out on high-yielding routes, when the market is prepared for the introduction of this kind of product. The airline first deployed its Boeing 787-9P on June 5, 2025, with an inaugural domestic positioning flight from Chicago-O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to 
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
The aircraft first entered international service on a route from Chicago-O’Hare to London Heathrow Airport (LHR). As for United Airlines, the first aircraft are expected to be delivered by the end of 2025, with the first international passenger flights planned for 2026, and the goal is to have roughly 30 aircraft in its fleet by the end of 2027.
The aircraft is set to enter service with United Airlines on routes from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to London and Singapore Changi International Airport (SIN). We will simply have to see how effective these ultra-premium variants can really be.
