American Airlines 787-8

I saved my first flight on a 787 for American. It’s their first new jet as the new American, they’re my home airline, and this morning I’ll be on the very first two flights on it!  (I’ll be livegramming the flight as much as possible on Instagram at @realandyluten)

Stay tuned for a full report but I wanted to highlight a few things I’m looking forward to testing out:

• Higher cabin pressure – the 787’s fuselage is made out of composite material, which is less susceptible to fatigue than the more-typical aluminum fuselages of modern jetliners.  This means that instead of being pressurized to 6500-8000 feet equivalent, the 787’s cabin can be pressurized higher, i.e. closer to what I’m used to on the ground
• Higher humidity – modern jetliners are very arid.  The technology in and around the 787 allow the cabin to tolerate a higher level of humidity, which I’m hoping leads to a much better experience for passengers
• Big windows – the 787’s composite fuselage also allows for much bigger windows, about which I’m very excited, since I’m pretty much six years old and love looking out airplane windows
• Awesome window dimmers – the windows on the 787 don’t have shades, rather they have electric dimmers.  Very excited to try these out.
• Wings that flex – this is probably the coolest thing ever.  The wings of the 787 (as you can somewhat see in the picture above) bend and flex to allow for the smoothest ride possible.  I’ve been told by a few Boeing directors tonight that you can see the wingtips moving around during flight, allowing Bernoulli’s Principle to find the cleanest air for the wing to pass through

So, will any of this make a difference in the flight experience?  Who knows, but I can’t wait to find out.  Stay tuned for pics!