United Airlines business class (“Polaris”) has been an industry laggard for years. When they introduced new seats nine years ago it was a ‘just good enough’ product.
Designed under disgraced former CEO Jeff Smisek, it was the ultimate penny pincher product. It checked the box of lie flat and direct aisle access, but allocated less space to each seat than other airlines. They managed to keep just as many Polaris seats in the same footprint of a Boeing 777 as they had when flying six-abreast business class (Diamond) seats.
And while the original Polaris soft product was very good, largely only the Saks bedding remained premium. There were service cutbacks (fewer flight attendants working the cabin), food cutbacks, and wine cutbacks.
Recently, though, United has really raised the bar on business class wine and they’re rolling out a gorgeous business class product on new delivery Boeing 787-9s that resembles American’s gorgeous new business class on the same plane.
One area that United has specifically lagged is their over‑ear “noise-reducing” headphones, which aren’t really true noise‑cancelling and considered by most flyers to be cheap. At best some consider them to be usable, though many passengers prefer just to bring their own.
In contrast, American Airlines – in most dimensions not considered a premium international airline – provides excellent Bang & Olufsen noise‑cancelling headphones in business class.
Back in May when announcing their new 787-9 business class, United revealed that their upcoming Polaris Studio suites (bulkhead premium rows) would include new noise‑canceling headphones from Meridian technology. That was only for the Studio suites, though, not all of business class – at least that’s all that was promised at the time.
Since then, the Meridian website stated “From September 2025, Meridian headsets will be available in all United Polaris Business Class cabins, with further developments planned as the partnership evolves.” United never shared this!
Although they’ve now shared it internally, with employees, as revealed by aviation watchdog JonNYC:
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) August 29, 2025
New headphones launch in long haul business class and premium economy starting Monday, September 1 – with premium cross country and long haul Hawaii flighs getting these “by mid-September.” Expanding this to premium economy, even, is a great step forward!
‘Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit’ flying United…
To everyone going somewhere for the holiday weekend, safe travels!
@ 1990 — Yep, go sniff some glue.
@Gene — All right, Gene, you listen, and listen close. Flying a plane is no different from riding a bicycle; it’s just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes…
It’s like going into a Kmart to buy a new car stereo for your 1985 Camaro, and you have to decide between the Panasonic, Kenwood, or the Kraco. The Kraco is half the price, and they give you a free sticker to put in your back window, so you can tell everyone what brand to want to advertise for free.
Is providing BOSE or SONY so hard for these airlines? I assume these second-tier brands, in this segment, are much cheaper for airlines to partner with.
Ah yes the famous Meridian headphone brand. They don’t even make personal headphones, it seems from their website. United should either allow Bluetooth so people can use their own headphones or get Bose noise-cancelling headphones. Doesn’t seem that complicated.
@DanininMCI and @Mike: Perspective from someone in the audio industry: Meridian’s entry level products are a massive step above anything Bose or Sony make. Meridian home speakers start out at around $10,000/pr and go well over $100,000/pr. Meridian also created a number of high-end audio codecs which are used industry-wide. Sony and Bose make good headphones, but neither would ever be discussed as a high-end brand, just mass-market. I own products from all three companies and appreciate each of them for their different strengths, but to say that Meridian is a second rate brand compared to Sony and Bose is very misguided!
How does it work if someone steals your headset? Are you charged for it? I never cared to use them due to hygiene concerns. I have my own Bose anyways.
Y’all can afford to fly at the front but don’t have your own cans?
Meridian is an audiophile choice. It’s super high-end and anyone into component hifi would know this. It’s definitely not a mid-tier brand and their offerings are far better than both Bose and Sony.
Ok, now Delta has the next move, the garage sale fake ANC headphones they supply in PS and DeltaOne need to go.
As someone who only flies once or twice a year for personal travel, perhaps my opinion is less relevant. But my priorities for selecting a flight/carrier are things like overall cost/value, flight times, convenience and of course making sure no airplane I’m on ever touches ground at EWR. (It would likely save time and aggravation by ditching in the Atlantic) The provided headphones are #40 on my top 5 priorities.
Are people actually changing their airline choices because of updated headphones?
LOL. Anyone flying business class doesn’t need the airline to provide.them headphones. I bring my own Shures which are far better than anything that is mass-produced for thousands of flyers.
LT Plat on both UA and AA. Flew last week to Tokyo. Out on AA (old 777 BC) and back on UA 777 Polaris. My verdict is…UA wins on the seat (seat set up, storage, bedding, entertainment and WiFi. AA won on the service (better food, better attentive FAs). Little things like proactively handing out pjs, drink refills, etc. Had to ask repeatedly on UA. AA’s reversed herringbone set up generally did not cut it imo. AA’s B&O headphones way better. Both having no overall win or wins in every category.