United Unlocks Sliding Doors on New Boeing Dreamliners

United Airlines' Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners have been equipped with Polaris suites and studios since March, but one feature has been locked away until now. The airline's new 'United Elevated' interiors boast 56 Polaris suites and eight Polaris Studio seats, both featuring sliding privacy doors.

However, these doors were initially locked pending FAA certification that they can be opened from inside in an emergency, even if the normal mechanism fails. This certification process took longer than expected, with United finally receiving the all-clear to unlock the doors two days ago.

Engineers must manually activate the doors on each aircraft, which may take several days or longer for the full 'United Elevated' fleet to have working doors.

This is not an isolated incident, as American Airlines faced a similar delay with its 787-9 and A321XLR Business Class suites. The A321XLR doors were certified last month, but it will be fall before they are active fleet-wide.