Seamus

Had my first flight on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner last week, Houston to London on United. Publicity materials pointed out that because the plane is made of composite material rather than metal, they are able to maintain a higher cabin humidity and pressurize to a lower level, both of which reduce the flight related stress on the body. Lo and behold, I found that to be true - less jet lag! The flight attendants I asked said the same thing - they like working the 787 for that reason.

Overhead bins were pretty large, easily held several rollaboards. Windows were much larger than usual, and instead of shades were electronically dimmed / lightened. This made for some great views. The "mood lighting" throughout the cabin was unobtrusive, consisting of indirect light at the ceiling level in colors that were changed at different times to (allegedly) help with circadian rhythm.

Now, the seats - though the posted pitch is 35" in E+/ 32" in regular Economy, felt like the seats were a bit cramped. I was in the bulkhead seat just behind the BusinessFirst cabin so had plenty of leg room, but the other seats seemed pretty close together. Not as bad as on the American 777 we flew last year, but still a bit more cramped than I expected. And the width is down to 17.3", so a bit less than on other long range craft.

Overall, loved it and will definitely try to arrange future itineraries to use the 787 if possible.

kybourbon

You are lucky you got your flight in when you did. The morning news says all 787's are now grounded due to a battery fire from a design flaw.

DonTopaz

kybourbon, you are 100% wrong, unless you meant that "the morning news" was the morning news from a year ago.

kybourbon

No, it was on the national news last night and again this morning - showing pics of the burned batteries. I admit I didn't listen to every detail (always multi-tasking), but they were talking about the planes being grounded and the battery fires.

NeoPatrick

Let me clear up the confusion. The issue WAS nearly a year ago and planes were grounded for months. But yesterday the National Transportation and Safety board released their final report about the incident. That's why it was in the news -- not that they've been grounded again.

Melnq8

Big sigh of relief...we just booked flights from Perth to Auckland and return on the 787 in Premium Economy a few days ago.

I've only flown the Dreamliner once so far, from Auckland to Perth a few months back, and it was pretty incredible (also in Premium Economy).

P_M

Thanks for the review Seamus. I am booked on the 787 from LHR to AUS next year. I am looking forward to it.

JaneB

Flying Houston to Frankfurt (Coach) on Dreamliner in March and looking forward to it!! Thanks for the review.

kybourbon

>>>But yesterday the National Transportation and Safety board released their final report about the incident. That's why it was in the news -- not that they've been grounded again.<<<

Thanks, Neo!

wally34949

When I flew the Dreamliner in economy my shoulder rubbed the person next to me for the entire flight. Every time the flight attendant walk down the aisle she bumped my seat. Also, whenever the fasten seatbelt sign came on there was a very loud recorded message that said "ladies and gentlemen the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign please make sure your seatbelt is fastened at this time." Bring some good earphones.

In short, I would take a 777 with nine across or an A330 if I had a long flight. The isles are very narrow on the 787.

DonTopaz

Wally, the problems you had have much more to do with the airline and not the airplane model.

United, for example, squeezes 9 seats across in economy (3-3-3) on a 787, while other carriers such as Japan Airlines 8-across (2-4-2). 9-across seating will obviously result in less shoulder room (and probably narrower aisles) than 8-across.

flpab

I only saw the raw version of the plane. It landed at Daytona and was lucky enough to go on and see the inside. It had sections showing the materials used and the cockpit was still wide open. The Emory Riddle pilots were posing for pics sitting in the Captains seat. I am glad all the flaws have been fixed. It is made in South Carolina and Boeing did that to avoid Unions. Many of the space workers moved there to get jobs and the work conditions are not the best.

janisj

wally: as DonTopaz says -- none of your issues have to do w/ the <u>plane</u> but w/ how the specific airline decides to configure it.

Same situations occur on your 'preferred' 777 or A330 when an airline crams more seats into coach.