Airline executives and aviation enthusiasts alike eagerly await the official arrival of the Dreamliner.
It's new, it's state-of-the-art, it's more fuel efficient than today's jets of its size, and, based on the advertisements that show teal and royal blue-colored streaks swept across the fuselage in waves, it looks kind of cool too! What is it? It's the Boeing 787, or the Dreamliner, an aircraft that's being snatched up by airlines across the industry as if it were going out of style.
Upon launch, orders for the 787 soared and they haven't let up since. In fact, the aircraft is the fastest-selling commercial airplane in history. Most recently, International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), a company that, among other things, leases aircrafts to airlines around the globe, ordered 50 787s and has an option to acquire two more [1].
Northwest Airlines, Continental, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Air China, Air India, and Korean Air are just a few of the carriers that have jumped on the 787 bandwagon. Seems that airlines don't want to miss out on the "dream."
After all, Boeing's new airplane is cutting edge. The aircraft will consist of lightweight, high-tech composite materials, rather than aluminum. The plane will use 20% less fuel than aircrafts of comparable size, allow for 45% more cargo capacity, and afford passengers a cabin with higher humidity, wider seats and aisles, and larger windows [2].
Continental plans to replace the less-efficient wide-body aircrafts in its fleet with the 787 and hopes to expand its route network with the addition of the new plane [3]. Both Northwest Airlines and Air New Zealand also see the potential for route network expansion with the introduction of the 787 into their fleets.
In a press release issued in May 2005, shortly after Northwest Airlines placed an order for the Dreamliner, Doug Steenland, the company's CEO, said, "We believe that the Boeing 787 provides Northwest Airlines with a new-generation, long-haul aircraft that will allow us to tailor our growing international route system to best address our customers' travel needs" [4].
The 787, which is scheduled for its first test flight in August 2007 and slated to enter service in 2008, has yet to even make it off the ground to demonstrate all of its purported attributes [5].
Though Boeing's branding strategy was clearly right on the mark. That is, the "image" of the 787 that Boeing created in customers' minds was brilliant enough to sell the plane in heaps.
The idea of a fuel-efficient carrier, with a comfy cabin, wrapped in a sleek, modern design has wooed customers like no other commercial aircraft ever on the market. Not to mention its designation, the Dreamliner. Who's not up for a sweet dream?
References:
[1] ILFC
[2] Benefits of 787
[3] Continental PR
[4] NW Press Release
[5] Test flight
