Chasing The Sun

Like New Zealand’s World Cup winning All Blacks, the 787 is now really hitting its strides.

“We are incredibly pleased at how the introduction has gone and the 787 has outperformed our best expectations,” says Air New Zealand’s 787 technical pilot Captain Philip Kirk.

“And the untold story is how well Boeing incorporated the lessons from the 787-8 into the 787-9. This model is a quantum leap over the Dash 8 in reliability. ” Captain Kirk says the airline was achieving 98. 5 per cent dispatch reliability and wants it to be 99. 5.

“We are after the best reliability in the world and Boeing is working very hard to help us achieve this. ” “Often it’s just software changes but occasionally a few are hardware. Vendors are being pushed hard for perfection. ” Fuel burn too is delivering results. On an Auckland-Shanghai-Auckland return flight compared to a 777-200ER the 787 will burn 50,000 litres less fuel while carrying the same payload.

Taking to the field

While Air New Zealand and the 787 delivery crew may have been smiling about the 787’s performance I was not all smiles as prior to our takeoff I was “forced” to watch the Rugby World Cup thanks to the efforts of the team at the Boeing delivery centre.

But at least I had a happy crew looking after me on the way home! Our takeoff on October 31 was delayed somewhat by the late departure of two 787s to Kenya Airways due to a sudden interest in rugby by the Kenyan pilots.

Weather was bleak with mountain waves forecast off the surrounding volcanoes.

Takeoff weight for NZ6094 was 203,000kg with a planned fuel burn of 67,258kg giving us a landing weight of 135,742kg after the 6,230nm flight from Paine Field, Everett to Auckland.

Our three pilots – Captains Kirk, Ian MacDonald and Peter Mouat quickly had the small group of 10 Air New Zealand and Boeing staff airborne off 16R and we turned west moments after lift-off to avoid the worst of the weather, bursting into glorious sunshine within 15 minutes.

The track was via ELMAA, HOQUIAM and SEDAR and then a straight line to Auckland. En route weather was perfect with deep blue skies, mirror-still seas and the occasional towering thunderstorm that we slipped around without noticing.

Away from the technical aspects Captain Kirk says that passengers are giving the 787 an “overwhelming” thumbs up. “There is an incredibly positive reaction and passengers are going away very happy. Also there is strong interest in engaging with the crew about the 787,” he noted.

Air New Zealand is using the 787 on routes to Perth, Tokyo, Shanghai, Nadi, Sydney, Brisbane and Singapore. In 2016 it will receive another three 787s, with the balance of the 12 to be delivered in 2017 and 2018.

The additional three will see the last 767 retired, additional frequencies to some routes and Melbourne and Honolulu added to the 787 network.

Captain Kirk waxes lyrical about the 787’s performance.

“There is just nothing negative about this plane, it’s really nice to fly. You can tell a lot about an aircraft’s aerodynamic efficiency when it comes time to descend. With engine thrust at or close to idle, one gets a real feel for the airframe during descent operations. This aircraft is one incredible glider, which underscores how good the wing really is”.

Captain Kirk notes “from an equivalent cruise altitude, the 787 descent begins around 30 miles further out from the destination than a 777.

“And on climb it really is a Dreamliner. ” Captain Peter Mouat chips in that the pilots love the fact it can get to a higher altitude immediately. “For instance out of Nartia in an evening we get right above the muddle which is at 34,000ft and we are at 36,000ft,” Captain Mouat said.

“ATC gives us priority as we control the game because we are more capable. Life is so much easier. ” Captain Kirk gives the HUD high marks. “It is a fantastic tool and allows the two crew members to truly interface with the outside world during critical phases of flight like takeoff and landing, thereby improving the safety during these key operational phases of flight”.

Chasing the sun our sunset seems to last for hours and provides an almost never ending kaleidoscope of colours.

Our “six hour and 8 minute” old 787 hasn’t missed a beat, although our delivery flight has added 13 hours 52 minutes to its logbook.

When Air New Zealand took delivery it had six cycles over three missions with no open items and no status messages.

A winning score

The 787 is giving Air New Zealand both dramatic improvements to the bottom line and also a new flexibility to develop fresh routes and expand others.

More broadly, after years of all the wrong headlines the 787 is posting impressive numbers that are attracting little or no attention so when you read them you’re left amazed. Since the first 787 was delivered just over four years ago to All Nippon Airways on September 25 2011, Boeing had delivered 354 Dreamliners up to November 30 and is adding to that number at 10 a month.

The production rate of 126 a year will go to 144 in 2017, 150 in 2018 and 168 for 2019.

The 787 fleet is operating on 350 routes of which 75 are new point to point services, while overall the fleet is performing 600 flights a day at an average of 12 hours a day with dispatch reliability pushing 99 per cent.

And passengers? More than 70 million over 850 million miles.

These are all impressive numbers, particularly when you consider it took Boeing seven years to deliver the same number of 777s and McDonnell Douglas 11 years to achieve that total with its DC-10.

10 and counting

Another option for Air New Zealand may be the 787-10 for which Boeing has just completed detailed design.

Major assembly of the 787-10 will begin this year followed by first flight in 2017 and first delivery in 2018.

As a straightforward stretch of the 787-9, which entered service in 2014, Boeing designed the 787-10 for even greater efficiency as well as maximum commonality. Ninety-five per cent of the design and build of the 787-10 and 787-9 will be identical, with the aim of reducing complexity, cost and risk across the production system and providing operational benefits to customers.

The 787-10 has a range of 6,430nm and can thus cover more than 90 per cent of the world’s twin-aisle routes at a whole new level of fuel-efficiency with Boeing claiming “25 per cent more fuel-efficient than the aircraft it will replace and at least 10 per cent better than anything offered by the competition for the future. ” To date, the 787-10 has logged 164 orders from nine customers accounting for 14 per cent of all 787 orders.

Randy Tinseth, vice president marketing at Boeing, sees that number climbing. In an interview with Douglas Harned, senior analyst at New York-based Bernstein, Tinseth said that 140 sales so far are to “very strong customers in the market. ” “We have a number of large customers that operate big, either 767 fleets or A330 fleets, that will be making [replacement] decisions over the next couple of years. So I don’t think it’s a question of if the airplane will be successful. I think it definitely has been successful and will continue to be successful in the market. I think it’s just a question of timing as to when those big orders come.

Certainly, the growing in-service success of the 787-9 gives the -10 very firm foundations to build upon.