Here's a different criterion: I often like it when an aircraft feels graceful on takeoff and landing. That is, the whole cabin doesn't rumble and shake (you know what that feels like, when taxiing and you hit a bump, all the bins go rattling...) When the engines spin up and you start going, you don't feel like you're struggling to take off. The engines are quiet, yet you're blasting off.

Aircraft that I've noticed these nice qualities in are (strangely enough):

DC-10
727
A320

(Oh, and I travel mostly UA, if that matters for configuration.)

As much as I like the 777, it doesn't have this light yet powerful feel -- when it taxies, there's no disguising bumps and rattles. This surprised me the first time I was in one -- all the Boeing hype had me expecting the smoothest ride (on the ground) ever -- like a rolls-royce or something. Instead, the wings sway up and down 6 feet over cracks in the runway, and it feels like there's no "suspension" at all... It just feels like a monster. It's too bad they couldn't somehow have worked those features into the 777, but I suppose it has to do with engine placement and weight, etc.

On the other hand, the 727 is pretty inefficient compared to more modern aircraft, and the DC-10 has that nasty habit of exploding its #2 engine...

In the air, on the other hand, most jets feel pretty much the same to me. Only difference I can tell is ambient engine noise. But if based on cabin comfort, I agree with pretty much everyone else's choices, 777, 747, etc.

[This message has been edited by TA (edited 06-21-2000).]