United Airlines' Newest Economy Plus Upsell Is An Empty Middle Seat Covered By A Table & Cupholders

Published Nov 9, 2026, 12:01 PM EST Daniel comes to Simple Flying with a business focused approach to the aviation world. Daniel enjoys analyzing strategy and how companies move against each other to gain a step ahead in the skies. Besides strategy, Daniel also has a passion for aircraft design and the history of aviation. Based in New York If you're looking to book Economy Plus seats 32B or 32E on United Airlines' new Airbus A321XLR, you can't. The seats exist, but United will not sell you either one of them because they're permanently blocked. Instead of opening them up to passengers, United has opted to place a cocktail table with cupholders while marketing the adjacent seats as 'Economy Plus with Extra Elbow Room' for an additional surcharge. This means that despite the aircraft technically containing 152 seats and 36 Economy Plus seats, it legally only has 150 and 34, respectively. Middle seats are, of course, generally undesirable, and so hardly anyone will miss 32B or 32E. It is an unusual product, however, especially because United will not offer the extra elbow room seats on any other aircraft types; it will only be sold on the carrier's 50 A321XLRs. Ultimately, however, blocking the seats was purely a method to save on labor costs on this aircraft type specifically. Installing the tables and marketing them as extra elbow room seats is an opportunistic way to earn more revenue. The United Airlines A321XLR Credit: RTX United Airlines first ordered 50 Pratt & Whitney-powered A321XLRs back in 2019, with the first aircraft arriving in May 2026. The aircraft is a direct replacement for United's Boeing 757-200 fleet, of which the airline currently has 40 examples. Notably, however, the 757-200s operate transatlantic and transcontinental services, and United also plans a subfleet of 50 A321neos solely for the transcontinental services. This means that the carrier will significantly expand both its transatlantic and transcontinental services with these two planes. Currently, the A321XLR is operating from the airline's hub at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to San Diego International Airport (SAN) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). In December, the planes will make their international debut, operating from IAD to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) and Dublin Airport (DUB). Neither of these is a new route, but the A321XLR will enable the airline to serve these destinations year-round rather than having to suspend them for part of the winter season. On the inside, United Airlines is selling 150 seats, split between 20 Polaris suites, 12 Premium Plus seats, 34 Economy Plus seats, and 84 economy seats. The Polaris suites are based on the Elevate Altitude lie-flat herringbone model, while United has gone with Collins Aerospace for the Premium Plus and economy seats. Within the Economy Plus section, 32B and 32E have been blocked with the cocktail table, bringing capacity to 34 seats, while 32A, 32C, 32D, and 32F are sold as extra elbow room seats. Keeping Crewing Costs Down The FAA generally requires airlines to staff one flight attendant for every 50 passengers. This means that on a 152-seat aircraft, an airline needs to schedule four cabin crew members, while the presence of sliding doors in Polaris on United's A321XLRs automatically adds an extra crew member. However, the revenue potential of two extra Economy Plus seats was likely outweighed by the added cost of the fifth flight attendant, and United's solution was to simply permanently block off these two middle seats, bringing capacity to 150 passengers. With this, the airline only needs to staff four flight attendants on the A321XLR when operating shorter missions, and only five on longer missions that require an extra flight attendant (which will be the case on most transatlantic services). Considering the small size of the aircraft, adding another flight attendant would have been problematic for just two extra seats. Meanwhile, selling the adjacent seats as extra elbow room seats for a surcharge allows the airline to earn extra revenue. What makes the product unusual is that it's relatively uncommon in the US (Frontier is the only other airline to do so), and it's an especially uncommon product on long-haul services. Ultimately, a unique set of circumstances occurred to make the extra elbow room seats lucrative for United, and it's notable that American Airlines, which installs 155 seats on the A321XLR, did not feel the need to pursue this path. Costs And Staffing With The A321XLR Credit: Robin Guess I Shutterstock The A321XLR offers attractive costs and is well-suited to operate routes to Europe during the winter while also serving new, smaller spokes during the summer. However, it's not perfect. With only 150 seats, revenue potential is limited compared to a widebody, even with 20 Polaris suites and 12 Premium Plus seats. Meanwhile, four-to-five flight attendants and two-to-three pilots significantly raise crewing costs, especially on long-haul routes, as cabin and flight crews are paid by the hour. A widebody aircraft requires the same number of pilots as an A321XLR, and while it does require more flight attendants, the aircraft can carry more passengers too. What's more, a widebody can carry a meaningful amount of cargo and usually has significantly more premium seats. United's Boeing 787-10 carries 44 Polaris seats, while the airline's Boeing 777-200ER comes with 50 Polaris seats. There are more seats to spread costs over while the planes can generate substantially more revenue. United Airlines Long-Haul Fleet Polaris Premium Plus Economy Plus Economy Total Seats Airbus A321XLR 20 suites 12 seats 34 seats 84 seats 150 seats Boeing 757-200 16 seats N/A 42 seats 118 seats 176 seats Boeing 767-300ER 46 seats 22 seats 43 seats 56 seats 167 seats 30 seats 24 seats 32 seats 117 seats 199 seats Boeing 767-400ER 34 seats 24 seats 48 seats 125 seats 231 seats Boeing 777-200ER 50 seats 24 seats 46 seats 156 seats 276 seats Boeing 777-300ER 60 seats 24 seats 62 seats 204 seats 350 seats Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner 28 seats 21 seats 36 seats 158 seats 243 seats Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner 48 seats 21 seats 39 seats 149 seats 257 seats 64 suites 35 seats 39 seats 84 seats 222 seats Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner 44 seats 21 seats 54 seats 199 seats 318 seats Further adding to the complications is that while United's A321XLR is a 150-seat aircraft, this doesn't mean that the airline can always sell all 150 seats. Because many of the aircraft's intended missions will be staffed with augmented crews, some seats will need to be blocked for crew rest, as the A321XLR does not have dedicated crew rest areas. In contrast, United's 777s and 787s are equipped with crew bunks either below or above the passenger cabin, allowing the airline to sell every seat. Where The A321XLR's Strengths Lie In Credit: Walter Cicchetti | Shutterstock The A321XLR is not a profit machine for long-haul flights, because it's simply too small to bring in significant earnings even when considering its low operating costs. However, while a 777-200ER can easily make United more money, this only occurs if most of its seats are filled (276 in the case of United's planes). Many destinations cannot support a 276-seat 777, a 257-seat 787, or even a 199-seat 767 every day year-round. In those cases, flying a widebody adds extra costs without actually generating extra revenue. The A321XLR's exceptional fuel efficiency and low capacity make it ideal to operate services requiring less capacity, which can really take one of three main forms. The aircraft can be used to add weekly frequencies without significantly increasing capacity, to launch new services to thinner spokes, or extend seasonal services to year-round. The IAD-AMS route that the A321XLR will take over in December is an example of the third option, as this route was previously suspended during the deep winter months. During the 2027 summer season, United will use the A321XLR to commence new services from IAD to Toulouse, as well as from its hub in Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Luxembourg, Ibiza, Valencia, and Marseilles. These all belong to the second category, and they're also new routes rather than simply replacing the 757 (the A321XLR on the IAD-DUB route is replacing a 757). These services simply lack the demand and yields to profitably fill an expensive widebody, so United is now sending the A321XLR. United's Other Innovations In Economy Credit: United Airlines Innovation in economy class has been relatively stagnant for some time. Modern seats look more or less the same as they did a decade ago, and airlines have not dramatically changed how economy is sold. Within the larger market, US airlines are actually leaders in selling a large number of extra legroom seats as a distinct product offering (this includes United's Economy Plus), but apart from that, airlines generally sell economy in the same way, and long-haul seats don't vary too much. While the concept of blocking middle seats is a familiar one, it's much less common to see it on a long-range flight and for the adjacent seats to be sold as economy seating options. But United is also experimenting in other ways in economy with its new 'Relax Row'. Debuting in 2027, the Relax Row is essentially a set of three or four economy seats with extendable legrests, which create a large horizontal sleeping area. Passengers can then pay extra to essentially have a flat bed in economy. The Relax Row is not as long, private, or comfortable as a business class lie-flat seat, but it's a significant improvement compared to standard economy seats. It's quite noteworthy that United is introducing two fairly unique products in its long-haul economy class, with only a handful of airlines worldwide offering a similar product. What this does is help further monetize the cabin, while this move and the extra elbow room seat effectively reduce middle-seat capacity, the least desirable seats onboard that don't sell for as much.