United Airlines purchased Pan Am’s Pacific Division and acquired several aircraft in 1985 and I’ve selected a 747-200 from that time period featuring United’s Royal Pacific configuration for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps.
This particular layout – one of several in United’s 747 fleet at the time – was likely seen flying the U.S. to Japan market as almost 40% of the cabin comprised premium seating. A total of 35 seats were available in First Class in a 2 x 2 layout (or 2 x 2 x 2 aft of door one), Business Class seated 100 passengers in an uncomfortable looking 2 x 4 x 2 configuration with limited pitch, and coach offered 212 seats in the usual 3 x 4 x 3 setup.
In First Class on this bird you’d find me in the nose section as usual, probably in 2A or 2F. In Business I’d be in 17 or 18 A/H and in coach I’d opt for those exit row aisles in rows 27 or 37 if alone, or back in the two-seater section if I had a companion in rows 49-51.
Where would you sit?
Wow, that 2X4X2 business class config would be a tough sell in today’s market.
@AAdvantageGeek – LOL! Imagine if UA tried pulling 2x4x2 biz class on a 777??
@downhillcrasher: ;-). Ha! Well… a little apples to oranges nowadays. The 2 x 4 x 2 config back then is sorta like what Premium Economy is on some carriers today.
4c would be interesting in first. Makes 2d on AA’s 767-200s seem private.
I flew a UA 747 in the 2-4-2 j (ua1, ORD-hnl) in the late 80s. Pitch wasn’t great, but width felt wider than ba’s current 2-4-2 config in j.
Though I know it is correct, it strikes me as unreal to have 35F and 100J seats! I think AA had something similar on their 747s, too…
@NYBanker: AA did have a 747SP like that (i posted it here recently) and I flew on UA’s 36F/124C/???Y config when I worked for them. Will post that seat map soon.
OMG! I’m old enought to have flown that old ‘tanker’ service. 2A wouf be OK in FC, skip BC as over-sold and under produced and coach was a better deal. United has vastly better seats these days, but the soft product is still terrible. If flying any US port to Japan, find a foreign (Asian) carrier.
@Cook: When I worked in IM in the 90s and flew a similar config on their 747-400s, comp upgrades were the norm since they oversold coach all the time.