Photo: United
In our line of work, new planes are a big deal. So we’ve watched closely as Boeing’s longest version of the Dreamliner — the 787-10 — hits the skies. United is the first U.S. airline to get the “dash-ten” and it has started deploying the stretch Dreamliner on their premium transcontinental routes between Newark and Los Angeles & San Francisco. When we found out that the San Francisco-Newark inaugural flight was on Valentine’s Day, we knew we had to be on it!
There’s a lot of reasons to care about United’s 787-10. It’s the first of United’s Dreamliners to carry the Polaris business class seat, which goes fully flat and offers everyone direct aisle access. The plane comes with an awesome new inflight entertainment system. And now United is the first and only airline to operate the full Dreamliner family: the 787-8, 787-9 and the 787-10.
Read on for photos and more from United’s inaugural 787-10 transcon service out of SFO — including a Valentine’s Day celebration for United’s newest plane.
Photo: United Airlines
What’s the best way to celebrate Valentine’s Day? For most people some combination of candy, kisses, chocolate, and rom-coms does the trick. But we AvGeeks like to do things a little differently, don’t we? So tomorrow and into Friday, get ready for some epic live tweeting as we — along with San Francisco (SFO) airport and United Airlines — give a little Valentine’s Day love to the new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.
United just started taking delivery of the -10, the largest version of the Dreamliner. It started on limited flights between Newark (EWR) and Los Angeles (LAX), and this Valentine’s Day will be the starting day for regular 787-10 service from Newark to San Francisco.
The 787-10 Polaris business class cabin – Photo: United Airlines
Why does this plane matter to you? Well, United is the first U.S. airline to fly the 787-10, and it’s also the first Dreamliner variant to get United’s true Polaris seat. The plane also sports a real-deal premium economy seat — called United Premium Plus — and a redesigned inflight entertainment system. So follow along on Twitter starting tomorrow at noon PST for live updates from our very special Valentine’s Day flight, as United inaugurates 787-10 service from SFO to EWR! And on Friday, drop by United’s brand-new Polaris lounge at LAX with us.
Just-launched Boeing 777-8X & 777-9X, ordered in record numbers at the Dubai Airshow – Image: Boeing
The first day of the 2013 Dubai Airshow kicked off with a bang. As we slept, Boeing racked up 225 new orders for their newly-launched 777X program. With the existing 34 orders from Lufthansa, the official launch of the plane comes with huge order support from customers. “We are proud to partner with each of these esteemed airlines to launch the 777X ’“ the largest and most-efficient twin-engine jetliner in the world,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. “Its ground-breaking engine technologies and all-new composite wing will deliver unsurpassed value and growth potential to our customers.”
Night-time rendering of Boeing 777-9X – Image: Boeing
The 777X program wasn’t the only Day One winner for Boeing, however. Etihad also booked orders for 30 787-10s, which brings their total Dreamliner orders up to 71 – making them the largest airline customer for the 787 and pushing the program over 1,000 orders. Mideast short-haul carrier flydubai also made an order for 100 Boeing 737 MAX8 birds.
