The first United Airlines Boeing 787-9P with the new Elevate interior – 8 Polaris Studio suites, 56 Polaris suites, 35 Premium Plus, 39 Economy Plus, and 84 regular economy seats – has gone back to Boeing because it keeps breaking down according to aviation watchdog JonNYC.
so far "not a minor issue" is what I can glean/surmise.
(and of course one can also surmise something like that after an international mechanical ferry and then sitting for five days (with other recent interruptions in service as well.)
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) June 20, 2026
"1104 has also had a good amount of issues
So that’s another one to keep an eye on
Multiple cancels in Singapore as well"— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) June 20, 2026
The plane was just delivered on February 27, and entered service on March 29. The plane’s first international flight was San Francisco – Singapore on April 22.
- On that very first return trip, the plane had to return to Singapore after less than two hours because of an electrical smell in the cabin. It ultimately had to be ferried back to San Francisco without passengers.
- The plane sat for three days, flew a short test flight, and then was confinde to domestic flying. But another San Francisco – Houston flight was canceled for maintenance on April 29.
- In May it returned to Singapore service, but was grounded again in Singapore and ferried back to San Francisco for more testing.
- On June 4, it flew San Francisco – Singapore again, and the return had to be cancelled. Once again it flew back empty to San Francisco.
- After roughly six days of maintenance, United tried San Francisco – London, but the June 14 return canceled. It flew empty back to San Francisco on June 15.
Now today it’s slated to be flying from San Francisco to Boeing’s Moses Lake facility.
United is scheduled to send the aircraft back for remedial work because United’s own maintenance organization apparently hasn’t been able to resolve the repeated issues. The plane is a lemon.
JonNYC suggests that the problem is “not minor” but should be a straightforward repair for Boeing. So far United has taken delivery of five of these new flagship Boeing 787-9s with the Elevated interior.
“Oof.”
If it’s a Boeing, you shouldn’t be going.
Just send it straight to Victorville Airport Graveyard
As JonNYC said, it is not a minor issue so it requires significant, but straightforward rework on aircraft 1101. Meanwhile, UA’s other five other “United Elevate” 789s are performing flawlessly on their SFO-SIN & SFO-LHR routes.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZlYgN_IZmd6CSx_nXnuP0L0PiodapDRx3RmNkIpxXAo/htmlview#gid=2098141434
Aircraft 1107 should be delivered to UA shortly followed by as many as 13 more “United Elevate” 789s in 2026 alone.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FH3Y2-vRUgojntPkCSJI5Pd-15rsJ1a0SFCRaT-iqgo/edit?gid=2#gid=2
For sure, the Supply Chain for the 787-9 Aircraft is incredibly complex, and it is global in size. My guess is that the two most likely scenarios (there are others but less likely) are these: A) One (or more) of Boeing’s suppliers shipped a faulty component, which got incorporated into the airframe correctly, but either immediately or due to infant mortality caused all of these issues; or B) All of the components originating from Boeing’s Supply Chain were fine, and Boeing screwed up the wiring or assembly. Suffice to say, if it’s B) then Boeing will do their very best to bury it.
Simple math: Union shop + Woke HR department = Broken planes that don’t fly and aren’t safe
What does electricity smell like?
@. jack the ladd. You’ll know it when you smell it at FL410 over the Pacific at night.
Nick name for AC 1101, “Spike.” Seems every model has one.
Is it worth paying 500 bucks for it or take the seat behind it?
Should have taken their A350s (and maybe some A330-900s).
Currently sat in one. No USB charging port. Crap storage. Inedible “food”. Zero privacy. #unitedsucksass