United to pursue high-fare travelers with more premium seats

United Airlines will woo high-fare passengers by retrofitting more than 100 planes to add more premium seats on key routes.

The airline also plans to start using a new 50-seat jet with mostly premium seats on some key business-travel routes.

The moves are part of an industry trend to give more space and better service to high-paying passengers who account for a disproportionate share of airline revenue.

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, New Jersey, 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, Arkansas, the home of Walmart. Federal regulators have not yet certified the plane.