What makes the Boeing 787 Dreamliner a brand differentiator? Video tour

Shashank Nigam — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:32:02 +0000

After production delays of over two years, an analyst called the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the “delay-liner”. But aren’t production delays part and process of every new aircraft that is designed from scratch? It was the case with the Airbus A380 and even the Boeing 747. I believe it is important to look beyond the hue and cry about the delays and would like share my thoughts about the engineering and design marvel that the Boeing 787 is, and how it can be a brand differentiator for many airlines.

I was fortunate enough to be given a private tour of the Boeing 787 cabin, and I published the photos on SimpliFlying earlier. Now, I’m publishing the exclusive video tour of the cabin, which is housed in a life-sized mock-up of the plane at Boeing’s state-of-the-art Customer Experience Center. I was very impressed with this flying machine, and you’ll know why when you watch the video.

Here are three things I feel that will make the Boeing 787 experience very different for airlines, and passengers.

1. Boeing brings back the charm of flying

Did you know that the windows in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner are much larger than any planes flying today? Did you know that they have no window shades, and you control the % luminosity from a button below the window?

Colleen Rainbolt, from the Passenger Experience and Revenue dept told me that all of these features were designed so that people would enjoy flying again. Very simply, every kid has a dream to fly. But when we grow up and are faced with the reality of the unpleasant flying experience, we’re turned off. But by being able to see the sky at all times, as opposed to closing the window shades for a majority of flying time, I think it’s going to make a significant impact on the experience.

2. So spacious, the 787 doesn’t feel like a plane

If you watch me enter the plane below, you’ll realize the kind of space I’m talking about. I did not even feel this spaciousness in Emirates’ A380′s First Class, which I felt entering the Economy cabin of the 787. Boeing has removed the galley we all encounter upon entering a plane. And that create a lot of room!

Moreover, the blue lighting is such that it makes the plane ceiling feel very high and has a calming effect on the passenger

3. Everything is designed with the customer in mind

That is, the airline customer, and the traveling public. For the airlines, Boeing has instituted a lot of flexibility. For example, seats in the Economy cabin can be 6-abreast, 7-abreast, 8-abreast and even 9-abreast, depending on the airline’s priorities and the sector it is serving.

For the passenger, the stow bins are much larger, have ergonomic, easy to use latches and slide down. Even the toilet doors feel like those at home, rather than those that fold in.

See all of these features and more for yourself in the SimpliFlying-exclusive tour!

So, what do you think? Does the 787 have what it takes to be a successful differentiator for airlines? Would passengers flock to it? Would they pay a premium for it? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

Special thanks to Colleen Rainbolt for leading this tour, to Miles Kotay for arranging this for me at a day’s notice and to Jon Ostrower, the Flightblogger, for helping another aviation freak find the right people in Boeing.

Experience Cathay Pacific without stepping on the plane

Shashank Nigam — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:05:55 +0000

Cathay Pacific Aiways has come up with a brilliant initiative to allow prospective customers to experience their new cabins online. Dubbed “try before you fly”, web surfers can choose between having a male or a female guide, and then choose between the First, Business or Economy class. The best part is that they can either choose to be “shown around” by the guide, or explore the photo-realistic interiors themselves.

Try before you fly

Once a surfer is in a particular cabin, he or she can test out the different conveniences in the cabin with the click of a mouse – and these include common activities like working on a laptop and going to sleep. When doing the latter, the seats recline fully and cabin lights are dimmed. One can also walk around the plane and explore different cabins. When that’s done, one can step into the flight simulator and choose to experience landing at one of the many international airports Cathay Pacific flies to – including New York JFK and Hong Kong. As if that’s not enough, surfers can even enter a competition to win business class tickets to Hong Kong to try out their real flight simulator. How sweet is that?

Pre-flight experience as a brand differentiator

A number of airlines offer beautiful visuals and descriptions of their cabins on their websites, but none get even close to the experience Cathay Pacific has put together. Trying out their cabins online is not only fun, but engaging too. The flight simulator is also very unique, as it’s difficult to make out whether the pilots are photo-realistic 3D models, or if they are for real. This is a very cost effective way to allow masses of prospective customers to experience the product before they buy it and have fun while doing it. The best part is that there is nothing “salesy” about the whole process. This is brand awareness building in the purest form.

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