While heading to Austin, we took a short hop between Houston and Austin on United’s 737-900. United is in the process of updating their 737 cabins and this plane has been updated to the new configuration. These updates bring the older United 737s to the same standard of the 737-Max aircraft in the feel(United 737 Max Full Review). Due to the extremely short flight time, there was no service provided in the economy cabin so this review will focus on the new cabin, seats, and in-seat entertainment.
Bottom Line: United’s 737-900 Economy cabin upgrades look great, but the seats are kinda tight. The new in-seat entertainment is fast and loaded with choices, it even includes Bluetooth, but I couldn’t make it work.
United 737-900 Economy Boarding
Boarding on United is by zone, we boarded when our group was called and made our way into the economy cabin on the 737-900.
The new cabin is nicely appointed in a 3-3 configuration here in Economy.
But I have to say, the seats are pretty tight. They are also very slim without much padding. So while they might look good, they are not that comfortable.
We’re sitting pretty far back in the cabin. We booked these flights pretty late and these were the only 2 seats together.
The overhead bins are the new style that hold bags on their side. This should help get more bags onboard and avoid too many gate checks.
United 737-900 Seat Comfort and Features
Leg room in these seats is adequate, this is a short flight so it’s fine. United does use these 737s on much longer flights than 30 minutes between IAH and AUS, I wouldn’t be super excited about that.
Under each seat there is a power port with a universal outlet. There’s not USB power down here but there’s both Type A and Type C on the in flight entertainment.
Overhead there is the standard new style Boeing air vents. I don’t really like these, they don’t put out enough air.
United 737-900 In Seat Entertainment
United has added their newest in seat entertainment to these retrofitted 737s. The screens are fast and responsive. The selection is also very good.
United does offer Bluetooth so that you connect wireless headphones to your personal screen. I wasn’t able to make this work with my Sony headphones. Val wasn’t able to connect her headphones either. We both ended up just using a cable to the aux port.
The kinda cool thing is they still have 2 aux ports, so if two people wanted to listen to the same program, they could. There’s also Type A and Type C USB.
I put on an episode of Always Sunny. There were lots of movies too, but this is a short flight.
United 737-900 Departure
Outside they were finishing up loading the last bags and catering. I assume the catering is for tomorrow morning’s flights, this flight doesn’t have any service in economy.
We pushed back from the gate as the safety video was shown.
We headed for the runway. This is a pretty late flight and the airport is quiet this time of day. We didn’t really wait for takeoff, just a quick taxi.
The lights in the cabin were dimmed as we settled into the flight. The pilots gave their welcome and told us it would be a 28 minute flight to Austin.
United 737-900 In Flight
We took off from IAH and headed towards AUS. Like I said before, this flight is really short.
United 737-900 Economy In Flight and landing
This flight is less than 30 minutes in flight. Intra State flights are usually short, this is no exception. There’s not much to do here but watch some TV and wait to land in Austin.
Just a few minutes later, the pilots asked the flight attendants to prepare for landing. No service on this short flight between Houston and Austin.
Just a little while later we landed in Austin. On short flights is hard to get a good read on what the full experience would be. This United 737 flight is no different. It’s not about the service, it’s the seat more than anything else.
United 737-900 New Economy Final Thoughts
United is really trying to compete. They’re not the best airline in the world, but they are trying to seriously improve their standing. We’ve ridden with United on their Older 737 configuration(Full review here), the new one looks nicer, but I’m not sure it’s more comfortable. Slim seats just kinda suck, they are limited in leg room. The in seat entertainment was nice, I wish the Bluetooth connection to my headphones worked, but fortunately I have the option of just using an aux cable.
At the end of the day, the new United 737 economy configuration is a mixed bag. I don’t think I’d be super excited to ride in these seats for a long flight. But on a short flight, it’s fine.