Plane scares

I was really disappointed that my United 787 flight to New York was cancelled and replaced with an old aircraft.

The flight attendant said that they knew the night before that the 787 had been hit by lightning. United Airlines did not tell me that the 787 had been switched till I arrived at the airport. I had been checking every day and it still said that it was going to be the 787. I would have changed my flight if I had known a few hours earlier. A few years ago the airline allowed passengers to change their flights, without change fees, if it was on the same day of travel. Wish that they would re-instate this customer friendly waiver.

I have heard that the carbon fiber composite is more susceptible to lightning strikes than the traditional aircrafts. I’m not sure if this is true or not because I’ve not seen official reports confirming this rumor. Phil LeBeau reported on CNBC, that, "Boeing says the fire in yesterday's JAL Dreamliner was traced to "the battery used to start the auxiliary power unit."

I’ve been a fan of the 787 Dreamliner since my first flight on the inaugural flight. Click here to see all the reasons I love this aircraft.

On the top of my list is the Dreamliner’s lower cabin pressure, improved air quality and optimal humidity. The pressure never bothered me before, but recently I just don’t get enough air if I’m not on a 787 flight.

Boeing shares are down today on an electrical fire on a 787 Japan airlines JAL flight with engine trouble at Boston's Logan airport. It was supposed to take off to fly to Tokyo's Narita airport, but had to return to the gate prior to take-off.

United Airlines is delaying putting the Boeing 787 Dreamliner service on the daily nonstop route from Houston to Lagos, Nigeria to improve the aircraft’s reliability, the Houston Chronicle reports

Today’s problem came just weeks after Boeing suffered several other electrical problems that briefly grounded 3 planes. The new 787 jet has also had an engine failure and fuel leaks in the 14 months it has been in service."I don't want to be an alarmist," said Carter Leake, an analyst at BB&T Capital Markets in Virginia. "But onboard fires on airplanes are as bad as it gets. Even though it happened on the ground, rest assured the FAA is asking 'What if it happened in the air?'"

In December, another relatively new 787 operated by United Airlines was diverted safely to New Orleans after experiencing mechanical problems.

A Qatar Air  787 was grounded in London on December the 9th, for a faulty Generator.

Elite status with Qatar Airways Privilege Club offers four membership tiers:- Privilege Club, Burgundy, Silver and Gold with great benefits.

I was thinking of flying Qatar Airways’ new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, they have developed superior seats for its Dreamliner fleet.Every seat is an aisle seat in Business class. The cabin configuration forms a unique diamond shape, allowing you more personal space The flat bed seat also features ample stowage options. Qatar has 3 classes and I’ve heard of the private rooms they have in First. Even Economy has 30” of personal space with a 31” seat pitch to stretch out.

There were 2 reasons I did not book a flight on Qatar, though I’m tempted:
The First Class flight RT to Brussels via Doha costs $34,000 and
the other reason is that they may pull the same switch that United pulled on me, and replace it with a different aircraft.

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