Richard Quest is probably my favorite guy on TV, given how entertaining and intense he is. He also happens to be an aviation geek, which doesn’t hurt, and in particular is why I love his monthly program, CNN Business Traveller. For this month’s CNN Business Traveller, Richard took a look at the development of United’s Polaris product. Unlike what I’d expect from most traditional media outlets, this is a really comprehensive and accurate look at the product over the past couple of years, from development to where it is now.
Richard looks at the “test flights” they did on the ground to test the new Polaris soft product, the Polaris lounge in Chicago, and the inaugural international Polaris 777-300ER flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco.
Even though he’s a United fanboy, I appreciate that he doesn’t just look at the positives, but also addresses a lot of the negatives, including with Oscar Munoz. For example, he addresses the issues United has had with their seat manufacturer, the ice cream bowls breaking, the Dr. Dao incident that emerged around the same time that international Polaris service started, the Polaris lounge being too crowded, them cutting some of the amenities already, etc.
If you have ~25 minutes, this is an insightful and entertaining look at how United Polaris came to be (hopefully the below videos work, though they may not be available in all markets):
(Tip of the hat to Live and Let’s Fly)
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