Business Travel: Boeing's 787 aims to raise bar in comfort - Economic Times
Loyal passengers of other 787-recipient airlines will have months, possibly years to kick their heels before experiencing the high-tech, $185-$218 million craft. Should they wait with bated breath for what Boeing 787 Chief Project Engineer Mike Sinnett has called: "The most technologically advanced commercial airplane in history"?
Marketed as a panacea to passenger discomfort, the Dreamliner's inauguration is, after three years of delivery delays, being closely monitored by the travel industry.
"Comfort and cost are concerns of the business traveller and the 787 will deliver extreme advancements in fuel efficiency and many traveller features that will improve the journey," said Michael Qualantone, senior vice president & general manager, American Express Global Business Travel.
Indeed, this twin-engine, bendy winged, widebody craft has raised the bar for fuel efficiency. Some 50 percent by weight of the 787 airframe is lightweight carbon-fibre composites that could, Boeing says, help reduce fuel costs by 20 percent.
Whether travellers will benefit from the lower fuel consumption will depend upon airlines' cost structures.
According to Blake Emery, Boeing's director, differentiation strategy, the composite airframe also allows a more comfortable cabin pressure (the equivalent of 6,000 feet "cabin altitude", instead of the common 8,000 feet). The air can also be recycled much more frequently than is possible in aluminium airframes, where the process shortens aircraft life.
Though rebutting the suggestion that closer-to-sea-level cabin pressure will alleviate jetlag, Emery told Reuters: "Our goal is for people to feel better because of an aircraft experience, rather than feel beat up."
The 787's composite make-up also allows for more humidity in the cabin, which Emery says will "reduce symptoms relating to dryness."
DESIGN TWEAKS Whether frequent travellers will notice a substantive difference flying longhaul on the 787 rather than, for example, EADS' Airbus A380, or even the forthcoming A350, remains to be seen. As David Parker Brown, aviation blogger and owner of www.airlinereporter.com, said: "Putting a few hundred people in a small space for more than several hours will always cause discomfort."
Boeing has drilled deep to counteract this assumption. Interior-design tweaks have resulted from years of research. For a decade, says Emery, the company has been working with its "customer's customer -- the flying public -- to try to figure out what is going on emotionally, psychologically."
For most passengers, research findings suggest, initial boarding was of utmost importance; Boeing worked with artists and architects to create arched entranceways which provide a relaxing contrast to the "stress of pre-flight security."
Dreamliner passengers can expect roomier seats, more storage and larger, manually dimmable windows. Economy class will see some luxury additions, with a bar, female-only lavatories and Panasonic entertainment on demand for every passenger.
Finding a new use for an existing technology, LED lights installed in the 787 cabin, says the planemaker, allow the ceiling to appear higher, while easing the transition between day and night by gradually bringing in more or less light.
26 Sep, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEGJxiAaDEXglm-NXJ9L4ARbNA-qw&url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/business-travel-boeings-787-aims-to-raise-bar-in-comfort/articleshow/10128966.cms
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