SEATTLE EPI: Church architects have long known that people are more impressed by towering spaces if they enter from low-ceilinged vestibules. Boeing adapted this to its new 787 Dreamliner and, while the arched entry passengers will see when they enter from the cramped jetway isn’t a cathedral, it’s much more pleasant than most airliners, and most churches don’t have a self-serve bar.
“It’s all about trying to create a welcoming experience,” Kent Craver, regional director for passenger satisfaction and revenue at Boeing Commercial Airplanes said Saturday after Boeing rolled the first 787 for launch customer All Nippon Airways out of a paint hangar at its wide-body plant in Everett, Wash. Boeing is scheduled to deliver the plane to ANA by the end of September.
The entry is one of several differences passengers will notice about the 787. The composite fuselage allows for windows that are 30 percent larger, air that is more humid (and, therefore, comfortable) and air pressurized to the equivalent of a lower altitude. The 787 also offers LED lighting that mimics the sky at different times of day, dimmable windows, large overhead bins with latches that open by pulling up or down (and a little mirror to see if you’ve left anything behind up there) and a huge mid-plane lavatory (by airplane standards) with a window (also dimmable)… (more)
