File:United 83 at Los Angeles - N848UA - Flickr - skinnylawyer.jpg

I have just arrived from Washington Dulles on board this aircraft, having enjoyed some great views of the American West on the way.

Flight 83 will continue to Honolulu, though with a change of aircraft; the Airbus fleet at United does not operate overwater services.

United is notorious for using a shared flight number between two different flights that can be lumped as "continuous," even when using different equipment; too many passengers get a rude surprise, having expected a same-plane one-stop direct flight. And Mileage Plus members, if taking both legs of the "same" flight, nevertheless get credited for one through flight rather than two separate segments, with mileage calculated for the Great Circle distance between origin and destination without accounting for the intermediate stop.

This aircraft, built in 2002, is one of the youngest in the United fleet, arriving at a time when the airline was reeling from the dot-com bust at its San Francisco hub, decreased travel demand post 9/11, and a bad aftertaste from labor unrests of 2000 and 2001. United declared bankruptcy later that year, and no more new aircraft arrived after 2002; outstanding A320 orders were indefinitely deferred. No new orders were placed either until late 2009. An airline that had once prided itself on state-of-the-art aircraft, and even launched countless brand-new models, now runs one of the most outdated fleets in the business. Only the 2010 merger with Continental Airlines, and the delivery of some Boeing 737-800s previously ordered by Continental, allowed United to have factory-new aircraft in its fleet again without having to wait until 2016.