The first United Airlines Airbus A321neo flight landed at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Operating as flight UA321, the flight was bound for Chicago from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. Today marks the first flight and Simple His Flying would like to be a part of this important occasion and this is a review of the flight.
The inauguration was originally scheduled to take place on Dec. 14 from Chicago to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, but United changed the schedule several weeks ago. Earlier in the day, the airline hosted a media event with airline executives and local officials, followed by a staff event.
Simple Flying had the opportunity to tour the aircraft early on and it was incredible to say the least. Yes, the A321neo is already in service with several airlines across the United States, but United Airlines’ A321neo now features a new distinctive interior as part of the United NEXT program. This is explained in more detail below.
Before the flight/at the airport
As with all United Airlines flights, check-in is available through the app and online 24 hours before the flight, and I checked in this morning. The flight departed at 17:30 and boarded at 16:55, so we arrived at the airport around 15:45. I don’t usually arrive that early, but I wanted to stop by a restaurant in Terminal A and eat using my Priority Pass membership.
Enjoy a free meal at an airport restaurant with Priority Pass: Guide
Lounge access isn’t the only benefit you get with Priority Pass.
Terminal A serves American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and some United Express (regional) flights. TSA PreCheck is located in a dedicated area in Terminal A, and the checkpoint was empty when I arrived. Since I’m her CLEAR member, I didn’t have to pull out my ID for the TSA officer, but I would have gotten through in about the same amount of time whether I was CLEAR or not. After dinner, we took the Skytrain to Terminal C.
When we arrived at the gate, it was clear that something special or different was happening. There were more people than usual gathered around the gate. The crowd was filled with United Airlines staff excited about the new aircraft, media, aviation enthusiasts, and “random” passengers who had no idea what was going on. After some briefing about the aircraft from Kevin Peters, Director of Network and Fleet Strategy, the gate agents were ready to begin boarding.
Boarding began at 16:53, two minutes ahead of schedule. Naturally, there were a lot of passengers with status, and they boarded first from a special lane. Immediately Group 1 was called, followed by Group 2. As a United credit cardholder, I was in Group 2, which gave me priority boarding when booking flights with my card. There was a long line on the jet bridge, probably because several passengers were taking videos and photos while boarding the plane, but things moved quickly.
on board
On the jet bridge, United staff handed out special boarding passes for the inauguration, as seen in the photo below. Onboard, United Airlines attached “fans” to popsicle sticks, which some called “lollipops” with pictures of the aircraft (see below). A sticker was also pasted on each seat.
Photo: Lucas Souza | Simple Flight
I had booked seat 31A, but to my surprise I was given a “window” seat with no windows. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Fortunately, the passenger on 32A didn’t mind photographing anything through the window and was happy to give me a ride.
As previously mentioned, this aircraft features the following United NEXT interior.
- Seatback in-flight entertainment screens (IFE) for each seat
- Bluetooth connection
- Large overhead bin to fit all passenger bags
- Privacy divider (first class seat)
- Wireless charging (first class seats)
After all the passengers were on board, the captain appeared and said he had been flying Airbus planes for United Airlines for 18 years and was very excited about the new Neo. The captain then handed over the safety briefing to the flight attendants, and we returned from the gate three minutes late. After sitting by the gate for a while, we finally taxied to the runway, waited there, and rolled down the runway by 17:53.
United Airlines plans to operate first-ever Airbus A321neo flight
This is the first of 130 new A321neos (and 50 A321XLRs) that United Airlines will receive.
Due to inclement weather during the flight’s departure from Houston, the flight attendants had to remain in jump seats for a period of time before starting service. When the crew finally got underway, turbulence meant they could only get through a few rows before returning to their jump seats. After getting up a second time, they only had to pass a few more rows before the captain announced that they would begin their first descent into Chicago. When asked if they were able to finish the service, one of the flight attendants joked that by the time the service was over, they were throwing cans at passengers.
The Bluetooth connectivity works very well, as it does on other United Airlines aircraft with new distinctive interiors that I’ve flown, and the pairing process is simple. The IFE system has a new interface compared to other aircraft. Some of the changes I noticed were as simple as design, while others were related to accessibility. For example, the in-flight map now shows pins representing different cities. Click on a pin to see information about your destination, and when expanded to maximum, the map looks like a Google Map with street names.
After about an hour and a half of flying, the captain announced that we would begin our first descent and that we had 58 minutes until landing. Our flight was scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 20:13 and we touched the ground at 19:54. However, like most flights at O’Hare, we had a long taxi ride and arrived at the gate at 8:09pm. You can watch the landing in the video below.
Today was the first of many flights on the A321neo. Tomorrow morning, the aircraft, also flight 321, will fly to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, departing at 09:20 and arriving in Phoenix at 12:18. United Airlines’ second A321neo has already arrived in the United States, and the aircraft will be deployed on multiple routes in the coming weeks, with five routes already listed on the schedule.
In addition to the A321XLR, United Airlines has more than 100 A321neos on order. The airline has more planes on order than any other airline, with a huge backlog of Boeing 737 MAX and 787 planes, and orders for the Airbus A350 delayed for several years. No other U.S. airline invests more in its fleet than United, which should help it attract more passengers and keep other carriers loyal.
