“This is big news. They are taking direct aim at Delta and its strength with premium travelers,” Harteveldt said.

United will retrofit 21 of its Boeing 767-300ER jets starting in the next several weeks. It will reduce seats from 214 to 167 by shrinking the economy section while going from 30 to 46 business-class seats and adding 22 “premium plus” seats. 

The planes will fly first between United’s hub in Newark, N.J., and London.

The airline also plans to add a few more first-class seats to its Airbus A319 and A320 planes. By year end, it hopes to begin flying new 50-seat Bombardier CRJ 550 jets between Chicago and smaller markets with many business travelers, such as Bentonville, Ark., the home of Walmart. Federal regulators have not yet certified the plane.

Small, 50-seat planes are notoriously cramped and unpopular with many travelers. Nocella said United’s new small planes — 18 feet longer than the planes it uses now — will have 10 business-class seats, 20 “economy plus” seats and only 20 regular economy seats.

“By making those 50-seat jets more comfortable, United has a good chance of attracting more business and frequent flyers,” said Harteveldt, the analyst.

Chicago-based United is the nation’s third-biggest airline by revenue, trailing American and Delta.

David Koenig, 

The Associated Press