Dreamliner: Flying the friendlier skies

The Boeing Stratoliner was an iconic aircraft that practically called out COME FLY WITH ME. So can this new Boeing 787, the Dreamliner, really bring back the good old days of air travel? Our Cover Story is reported now by Barry Petersen:

If you believe the old TV commercials, airline travel used to be amazingly pleasant ! Now we are searched and stressed, and left standing in endless lines.

But Boeing believes its new 787 Dreamliner will bring back some of the good old days.

"Really what we were trying to see if we could trigger again, recapture the magic that flying really is," said Boeing's Blake Emery, who helped design the interior - where even spaciousness comes with a message:

"We really wanted from the moment you crossed the threshold to be able to kind of say, 'Ah, I made it, this is it, this is going to be good from here on out,'" Emery said. "A total psychological moment."

It's a plane that won cheers on rollout at its Seattle factory . . . and made a splash when the first one went into service last fall in Tokyo, flown by Japan's ANA (All Nippon Airways).

United has 50 on order for future delivery.

But for the moment, the chance to fly in the plane across America is restricted to demonstration flights, where a lucky journalist can join mostly Boeing employees.

And once inside, the first difference is obvious: Much bigger windows, which make the whole cabin feel more spacious. And forget about having to pull down a shade - these windows use a small electric charge and a button that takes them from dim all the way down to darkness.

Those big windows work because the fuselage is constructed for the first time ENTIRELY with carbon fiber reinforced plastic, a material that is lighter than traditional aluminum.

It's been used for years on airplanes' tail sections.

And Boeing test pilot Mike Bryan likes what you don't hear: "The rest of the aircraft, the engines are spectacularly quiet," Bryan told Petersen. "The chevrons on the aft part that mixes the warm and cool air, we've heard many times on a fly-by on an air show, we just go flying by at 1,000 feet, you almost have to know we're coming or you might miss it."

But the Dreamliner has been a star-crossed saga.

Boeing outsourced production around the world, but that caused quality problems and delays that sent the $5 billion development costs soaring - by some estimates to more than $30 billion.

The first plane was delivered three years late, and those delays cost Boeing 160 orders.

"There's no question you lose credibility with your customers," said Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing commercial airplanes.

The company can sell the roughly $200 million Dreamliner for one huge reason: It sips less fuel.

"A 20 percent fuel savings for this airline means a 20 percent reduction in cost," said Tinseth.

"What you're basically saying," remarked Petersen, "this car gets better mileage."

"Yeah, it's all about the value proposition," said Tinseth.

The Dreamliner is one thing more: Designed to make money flying long distances with a smaller passenger load than a 747. That helps avoid the bane of every traveler's life - changing planes at a hub airport to get from here to there.

"That means, as a passenger, I'll have the opportunity to fly more point-to-point, or more direct non-stop flights," said Tinseth. "I don't want to call it a 'hub-buster,' but in many ways it is. It really is about more frequent non-stop service for passengers."

Which is why at Tokyo's Imperial Hotel, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and other city officials recently hosted a reception for executives of Japan's All Nippon Airways.

Denver and other American cities are aggressively wooing ANA to fly direct routes to Asia with their new Dreamliners.

Back in Denver, the mayor explained that new plane routes mean millions of new dollars to a city.

"Basically people think of ports to invest in - you know the West Coast, East Coast," said Hancock. "They have water, you can ship, you can fly in.

"Our greatest access to the world is the airport, Denver International Airport. It's the tenth busiest airport in the world, fifth busiest in the United States, and we just simply believe we have to grow that port. That means accessing the growing markets throughout the world."

As if tempting the people of Denver, the Dreamliner was tested here for high altitude take-offs and landing.

"I mean, if you're going to build a toy for us, come fly out of our city - the airliner exists, so let's use it!" said Mayor Hancock.

The Dreamliner is first on the market, but arch-rival Airbus is catching up fast. It has the A350 in development for delivery in the next two years to fly, yes, longer on less fuel, with a spacious entry and an interior that looks like an almost identical twin of the Dreamliner.

The yet-to-be built Airbus already has 600 orders.

Both companies are betting on an airline buying boom - an estimated 7,300 widebody jets like the 787 needed in the next 20 years, along with tens of thousands of smaller jets.

All this competition, innovation and fuel savings is fast outdating what we fly on today. Aviation consultant Michael Boyd says there's isn't anywhere for these airplanes after they are retired from service, except the recycler: "Razor blades, beer cans, aluminum shelves, whatever," he told Petersen.

Back on the Dreamliner with designer Blake Emery, be prepared for a few special effects, with colors that reinforce an airline's brand, or that are keyed to a segment of the flight - says, orange for sunrise.

"This kind of gently gives them a transition to a more alert function," he said.

"You're kind of manipulating us there, Blake?" said Petersen.

"Absolutely! But such a benevolent manipulation, don't you think?"

The Dreamliner can't ease all the travails of travel, but it's nice to know that an airplane built to make airlines more money also includes something modern travel seems to have lost: That sense of being a pampered passenger.

For more info:

• Dreamliner (Boeing)