Let's get ready to rumble! Whose 787 is better? JAL's or ANA's?
What’s better than one Dreamliner? Two of course. I have been lucky enough to be on 787 Dreamliners for two different airlines: All Nippon Airlines (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL). I have had many people ask me how they were different and figured the answer was good enough for a blog write up.
Now, before I move forward, I want to put a few things out there. First, I have been on ANA’s 787s multiple times and was even able to fly on one. I have only been on JAL’s for a short time while on the ground. The biggest difficulty to compare is that ANA’s Dreamers were set up in a domestic configuration, whereas JAL’s was in an international. Because of this I do not feel it fair to compare everything (like business class seats), but I think there is enough to compare and contrast in this friendly competition.
I have broken down each 787 into different categories and awarded a winner in each:
JAL recently came out with a new livery, but there is nothing special on the livery for their first 787 like ANA had.
Delivery Livery: ANA
ANA went all out for their first two Boeing 787s with a special livery. The large “787” makes it clear that this is a Dreamliner, even to those non AvGeeks. Even though JAL’s new livery is starting to grow on me, it just can’t complete.
JAL's entry way is on the left and ANA's is on the right to its 787s.
Entrance Bar: ANA
When first walking into the 787 there is a large entry way that can be set up as a bar during flight. Although both were impressive, I think that ANA having the wine holders out in the open really made it win this one.
Even though my favorite color is blue, overall, I like the atmosphere of JAL's 787 cabin (on the left) versus ANA's.
Overall Cabin Atmosphere: JAL
I really cannot put my finger on it, but JAL’s cabin overall just felt better. This is not to say that ANA’s felt bad, but I think maybe the fact that the economy seats have a lined fabric and the soothing colors just made me feel more comfortable in the JAL 787 versus the ANA. Although, someone else who was at the JAL 787 delivery, who also had been on ANA’s aircraft commented that he liked ANA’s interior atmosphere better.
JAL's lavatories aren't bad (on the left), but you can't beat a lavatory with a window in it that ANA has.
Lavatory: ANA
Both airlines offer nifty features in their lavatories, but this one went to ANA for choosing to put a window in one of their lavatories. The window actually provides some pretty amazing views of the 787 wing while in-flight and has the only sunshade in the cabin.
JAL (left) went for more width on each economy seat, where ANA (right) gave more arm room for the folks stuck in the middle.
Economy Class Width: Both
This one is really about where you sit. Even though the 787 Dreamliner can be configured with nine seats across, both JAL and ANA went with eight. Where ANA put in a double arm-rest into the very middle of the cabin, JAL went with a single armrest in the middle, but spread the width to all the seats. If I were sitting in a middle seat, then ANA wins, but if I am sitting anywhere else, JAL is the winner.
What is more important? Having a larger screen on JAL's 787 (left) or the remote in the seat-back on ANA's (right)?
In Flight Entertainment Screen: JAL
This is literally for the screen and seat-back only. I was able to spend a few minutes on the ANA 787 to play with the system, but really was not enough time to make any conclusions. I was not able to play with JAL’s.
Just looking at the larger and cleaner looking screen in the JAL 787 wins this one. Although ANA’s screen is a bit smaller, I really like the fact that the remote is in the seat versus in the armrest.
Can you tell which one is which? The one of the left is JAL's and the one on the right is ANA's.
Flight Deck: Both
This almost reminds me of Highlights magazine when I was a child and had two photos and had to try to find the differences. Look hard, there are not going to be too many. The 787 cockpit is a beautiful work of engineering and both of them win.
Conclusion
So if I had to pick only one 787 Dreamliner to fly on right now, which one would it be? Ha! That is like asking which child is your favorite. JAL, ANA and Boeing have done a great job with the new interiors and passengers will enjoy flying on either.
Those who are loyal to either JAL or ANA are probably not going to be swayed to change airlines based on differences in their 787 configurations.
A Small Planet Boeing 737-300. Photo from Small Planet Airlines / Flickr
Small Planet Airlines started operations in October 2008 under the name FlyLal. In 2010, the airline decided to re-brand with its current name Small Planet.
They operate out of Vilnius International Airport (VNO) in Lithuania with a fleet of two Airbus A320s and six Boeing 737-300s. Small Planet offers charter services to four markets: Lithuania, Poland, Italy and the UK.
How can you not like this livery? Okay, maybe the yellow letters on the white fuselage wasn’t the best call in all lighting situations. However, the tail and the image of the globe is quite epic. The longer A320 has quite a bit of white and the livery does look a bit better on the smaller 737-300 in my opinion.
Can you tell which aircraft and airlines these winglets belong to?
It seems like this was a challenging contest. A few days ago I posted this photo and asked you to identify the airline and type of aircraft. I wasn’t sure how hard it might be. Turns out that no one got every answer correct.
Here are the official answers (click on the link to see the full photo):
The sixth one, the Aeroflot Airbus A330, turned out to be the biggest challenge for most people. I probably blurred the registration number under the wing too much, which helps to ID it as Aeroflot’s. Do not feel bad, out of all the guesses only two people got it right.
I really though #3 was going to be the most difficult, but many of you got that one right.
Since #1 and #6 were hard to actually ID the actual airline and no one got every answer correct, I am going to give shout outs to those few who got all by one aspect correct:
*Anthony H * Arthur L
* Jeremy D-L (although he took all these photos, so does that count?)
* Scott W
* Keith G * Andy W
* Cary L * Brandon F
Thank you to everyone who participated. Doing these contests I am always beyond impressed with how well so many people do. I do not think I would have been able to get everyone of these correct. Please feel free to share and tips and hints on how you ID’d these photos correctly in the comments.
Recently American Airlines declared bankruptcy. It was a move to try and save the airline, but it has left quite a few people unhappy. One group of folks decided to find some of the humor in a complex situation. Politics aside, this is a pretty well done and entertaining video worth sharing.
Ken Fielding shares with AirlineReporter.com another set of classic photos that have an interesting story. Here are his photos and his story in his own words…
This was a taxiing accident at Liverpool in July, 1966. It was lunchtime on a warm summer’s day and I was sitting in my office, directly in front of the aircraft’s right wing, having just had lunch and reading a book. Working at an airport so close to the ramp you no longer ‘hear’ aircraft, they just become a background noise.
Suddenly there was an enormous bang and shrieking of tortured metal. I jumped up and there was this Rolls Royce Dart engine about six feet away from my window with the prop blades bent at an interesting angle.
Viscount Cambrian Airways taken July 15, 1966 by Ken Fielding. Click for Larger.
That got the heart pumping a bit faster and I grabbed my camera and rushed outside. Can you imagine anyone being allowed that close to a pranged aircraft now?
The aircraft had been having hydraulic problems and had been ‘fixed’. It was being ground tested by two engineers when the hydraulics failed again, losing steering and brakes. The starboard wing hit an Aer Lingus V.800 Viscount which swung it round toward the terminal and straight into Gate 2.
Oops. This Vickers Viscount did not stop in time. Photo by Ken Fielding. Click for Larger.
The first thing the ground crew did was straighten the props (as they would on a normal turnaround). Having demolished a couple of sets of British Eagle steps and a baggage truck, the two on the other wing needed a bit more attention. The aircraft demolished the wall at Gate 2 and you can see the broken nose-wheel resting on the wall.
Those blades and those stairs aren't looking so great. Photo by Ken Fielding. Click for Larger.
This was outside my office window. A piece of the mangled steps can be seen (top left of center) sticking out of the aircraft roof while another piece had gone through an aircraft window.
Something about this just does not look right. Photo by Ken Fielding. Click for Larger.
Cambrian Airways taxiing accident, from the upper roof terrace at Liverpool (LPL). The starboard wingtip stopped about 4 feet from my office window.
