The Only Major Carrier to Fly All Three Dreamliners
Scott Dylan January 28, 2019
United Airlines recently hit a milestone. The carrier is now the only one among the four big airlines in the country to carry all three variants of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The new 787-10 officially made its debut on service between Los Angeles and Newark on Jan. 7.
A second 787-10 is set to enter service at some point in February. United plans to use that plane for service between San Francisco and Newark. In addition, there are plans to use the 787-10 for international routes. The aircraft will be flown for United’s flights from Newark to Frankfurt and Tel Aviv beginning in March. More routes will be announced for the 787-10 in the months to come. United’s fleet currently holds 40 787 aircraft in total. Here’s how it breaks down by variant:
- 12 787-8 aircraft
- 25 787-9 aircraft
- Three 787-10 aircraft
Those numbers will soon change. That’s because it has been revealed that United has an additional 13 787-9 aircraft on order at the moment. United has also ordered a total of 11 more 787-10 aircraft. Passengers who fly on routes that are served by the 787-10 planes will notice that this model offers three classes.
The planes are capable of seating up to 318 passengers per route. Each configuration is made up of 44 United Polaris® business-class seats, 21 United® Premium Plus seats, 54 Economy Plus seats and 199 economy seats. What is notable about the new 787-10 is that it is a full 18 feet longer than the previous 787-9. However, this model uses 20 percent less fuel than previous models. Here’s a look at some of the features passengers can look forward to if they happen to travel between Los Angeles and Newark on the new plane this month:
- Updated lighting that mimics the colors of sunrises and sunsets.
- New seat-back entertainment screens with split-screen capabilities.
- A relaxation mode that offers soothing videos and audio options.
- Movie and television recommendations based on flight times and saved favorites.
Your only chance to check out the new 787-10 from Boeing may be when flying with United Airlines. United doesn’t have a lot of company when it comes to other airlines that have ordered variants of planes in the 787 family. The only other two airlines that have placed comparable orders so far are British Airways and All Nippon Airways.
[Image: Flickr/North Charleston]
SQ bought all 3 variants but the main carrier only flies the -10. The initial order of 20 units of -9 was transferred to Scoot. Scoot changed half of the order to -8.
@brianz24, the point the author was making is that other airlines aren't ordering all 3 varieties of the plane, not that no one is ordering the -10. SQ only has the -10, they don't have -8 and -9. Apparently NH and BA are the only other airlines utilizing all 3 types.
@brianz24 Yeah, but not all three variants 787-8, 787-9 & 787-10
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that Singapore airlines also operates the 787-10.
If seat guru is correct those taking the new United 787-10 in economy will 'enjoy' 1" less pitch and in some seats 1" less width seats 16.3" wide. Is this a new record for narrowness. The new lighting I hope complements the red rage of passengers who try to fit in these seats for the trans-continental journeys.