Unlike my first-hand experience on United’s inaugural of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner this past November, I’ve been following the action of its re-debut today on Twitter.

United Airlines Flight#1 departed the gate in Houston this morning on-time at 11:00 a.m. and was airborne 13 minutes later.

Prior to departure from gate E7, a ceremony of sorts took place with the crew, CEO Jeff Smisek and Boeing’s chief James McNerney. One of the zinger comments from Smisek during the event was something to the effect of, “this (the 787) was an expensive piece of tarmac sculpture,” according to several accounts.

Well, it’s certainly sculpture no more and will be arriving on-time at O’Hare within the hour. The same aircraft turns around as United Flight# 2 headed back to Houston at 3:40 p.m.

I’ll be keen on reading the reports from my inaugural buddies @airchive and @airwaysjack who are both on the flight. And CNBC reporter Phil LeBeau will have updates as well, featuring interviews with Smisek and McNerney.

After initial domestic runs, United will shift its 787 flying to primarily international routes as previously planned.

I’d book a 787 flight… would you?

Related posts:

United Dreamliner Inaugural Flight Review: Houston to Chicago on November 4, 2012

United 787 Dreamliner Inaugural Takeoff Video

Seats Are Aplenty on Re-Debut of United 787 Dreamliner

– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

United Airlines will operate its first post-grounding Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights in just about two weeks on May 20. And the seat maps are currently wide open.

As reported by Jack Harty for Airchive, flight UA 1 will depart from Houston on Monday May 20 at 11:00 a.m., arriving in Chicago at 1:35 p.m.

UA1 Seat Map on May 20 IAH-ORD

The return flight UA 2 will depart Chicago at 3:40 p.m. with an arrival back in Houston at 6:25 p.m.

UA2 Seat Map on May 20 ORD-IAH

The next day on May 21, United is scheduled to operate 2X daily Houston-Chicago-Houston flights until June 9, as well as add Dreamliner service on the Houston to Denver and Houston to Los Angeles routes, the latter commencing on May 24.

I doubt there will be any hoopla surrounding these flights, but I’m glad to see them on the schedule. I wouldn’t hesitate to be on one of them.

Here’s a look back at my experience on United’s inaugural Dreamliner flights on November 4, 2012:

• United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1116 IAH to ORD
• United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1510 ORD to IAH
• United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1209 IAH to LAX

Would you feel comfortable booking a Dreamliner flight today?

• United Airlines is pulling all Boeing 787 Dreamliners out of service until at least May 12, at which time they intend to launch Denver-Tokyo nonstop flights. A company spokesperson said other 787 flights will be held until June 5, pending successful resolution of Dreamliner issues.
• Southwest Airlines has expanded its live television programming to all Wi-Fi enabled flights, and added movies. Prices run $5 per movie, per device and/or $5 per day for television.
• Lufthansa will reduce long-haul aircraft sporting first class in the coming year(s). Some Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 747-400 aircraft will be reconfigured due to the change. Vancouver flights are reported to be one of the specific markets affected.
• Delta Air Lines is once again attempting an airfare hike, looking to raise certain domestic airfares by $4-$10 roundtrip. As of earlier this afternoon, United is the only airline yet to match.
• Profitability per airline passenger has been dropping the past several years (PDF). Airlines for America has an interesting presentation showing the drop from 318 cents per passenger in 2010 to 77 cents in 2011, to 21 cents in 2012. Time to raise ancillary fees?
• Blogger-buddy NonRevAdventure has a thought-provoking post questioning hotel loyalty and whether it’s worth it to spend more just for added perks. My travel will be significantly decreasing later this year and I’ll certainly be back to choosing a hotel more on price vs. loyalty.
• Wyndham will reflag and operate a whopping 41 additional hotels in Germany, almost doubling its properties in the country. Additional locations in Belgium and the Netherlands will also be reflagged.

Related posts:

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: February 19, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: February 18, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: February 15, 2013

• The obvious and most notable news today was the long-awaited official merger announcement by American Airlines and US Airways. The $11 billion deal will create the world’s largest airline. Here’s a look at what the eventual AAdvantage frequent flier program might look like.
• But there was also other interesting news to report, including Polish airline LOT grounding all Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights through October. LOT president Sebastian Mikosz said he would not operate the airline’s two 787s for summer season flights due to still unresolved technical problems.
• Fly Jamaica took to the skies today, operating its first of four weekly flights between New York’s JFK airport and Kingston, Jamaica. The airline operates Boeing 757 aircraft with two classes of service and doesn’t charge for the first two checked bags.
• Korean Air still has plans to open a hotel in downtown Los Angeles, but delayed the completion date and subsequent debut from 2014 to 2017. It would become the tallest structure in L.A. and include 900 4-star rooms, as well as retail and office space.
• Budget, Japanese-style capsule hotels seem to be gaining popularity and a new one has opened in Moscow, the city billed as the most expensive in the world for a hotel room. “Rooms” reportedly cost about $85.
• Orbitz has laid off employees this week in order to spend more marketing itself and increase profitability, according to a report. No specific number of impacted employees was provided, but it was thought to be around 70.

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Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: February 12, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: February 11, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: February 5, 2013

In the odd chance you haven’t already heard, American unveiled their new livery and logo today. American will no longer be able to sport a polished aluminum look as some of the new fleet types on order are made of composite materials, including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. And so, at 9:00 a.m. CST today, American did their big reveal online.

The New American Airlines Livery (Courtesy: American Airlines)

Twitter immediately became a flurry with reaction, most of which I saw was negative. I quite like the new look and it has grown on me even more throughout the day. Bold and modern, and it will certainly stand out at the airport. My only suggestion would have been to use the same blue color used throughout for the lettering. I’ll miss the current livery, though, as I think it’s a classic and stood up well over the years.

Change of any kind will bring criticism and one of the elements many are expressing distaste for is the new “eagle,” or what American is calling a flight symbol.

American Airlines logo (the 'eagle' or 'flight symbol')

And when American announced they’d be updating their look early in 2012, many designers got busy. Here’s one of the most widely liked concepts from Anthony Harding:

Courtesy: Anthony Harding

He modernized the eagle, maintained a red, white and blue (and silver) color palette, and even kept the popular “AA” going, I owe a huge thanks to Anthony for allowing me to show his design here and I asked him what he thought of American’s new look:

I’m highly impressed with what American Airlines revealed today. To me, it’s exciting, eye-catching, and it feels appropriate for their vision of a modernized American Airlines. Where so many modern airline liveries feel underwhelming to me and seem to lack passion, American’s bold new livery feels like an emphatic statement of confidence in the airline’s future.

A very nice critique indeed! But what say you? I’d love to hear your choice if you had to pick between the two. And I also welcome criticism of my own approval of American’s new look.

Related posts:

Review: American’s Flagship Check-In and Lounge at LAX

Why an American-US Airways Merger Worries Me

Interview With the Head of American’s Social Media Team

• The FAA issued an airworthiness directive requiring U.S. airlines to ground Boeing 787 Dreamliners until the aircraft is proven safe to fly. Meaning, United must ground its current fleet of six 787s until the battery issue (and possibly others) are resolved.
• Meanwhile, the FAA is seeking to ban pilots from using their portable electronic devices at any time during flight. This doesn’t include iPads and other devices necessary for their job function (United, among other airlines, issues iPads to their crews to replace traditional paper flight manuals).
• Virgin America announced new nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. I’ve seen some criticism online as to their need to enter such a heavily serviced market by other airlines, but I think it’s a very “Vegas-mentality” airline to serve the route. Now if they can only fill up the planes profitably.
• United Airlines is offering bonus miles on their new San Francisco to Taipei route (“hat tip” to the linked site). Redeemable bonus miles can be earned for even the cheapest fares when traveling 4/9/13-6/30/13.
• Don’t get too excited, but free breakfast (think “continental”) is now being offered at Extended Stay America locations. It’s reportedly “to-go” only, offering oatmeal, fruit, muffins and beverages.
• American Airlines is very close to revealing a new livery, according to reports. And I have to all but guess that means a decision on a merger with US Airways as well. I sorta think they’d be announced at the same time. American’s first Boeing 777-300, currently naked-ish, begins flying January 31 from Dallas to Sao Paulo.
• United launched a new airfare hike today, yet to be determined if it’ll stick. As of 4:00 p.m. EST, no airlines have matched the increase ranging from $4 to $20 round-trip on domestic airfares.

Related posts:

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: January 15, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: January 14, 2013

I completed my multi-part United Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner inaugural trip report last week, so be sure to check it out in case you missed it. Here’s a time-lapse video of how ship 3904 (registration N20904) came to be:

Related posts:

United 787 Dremaliner Inaugural: Introduction

United 787 Inaugural Takeoff Video

Video Tour Inside United’s First 787 Dreamliner

Boarding for my third and final leg on inaugural day was a more civilized affair. While there were many passengers standing around gate C14, no one was crowding the lanes.

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Introduction

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Pre-Departure Festivities

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1116 IAH to ORD

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Chicago Arrival Celebration

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1510 ORD to IAH

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1209 IAH to LAX

This time I was seated in the forward BusinessFirst cabin in the middle section, aisle seat 2D. I forgot that non-bulkhead seats have the very small footwell – stick to row 1 or 4 if you want a larger footwell.

Everyone in the forward cabin was uber enthusiastic, so this flight felt like another inaugural. There were a mix of United employees, Flyertalkers, bloggers and other #avgeeks in the BusinessFirst cabin (and maybe one or two “regular” people, but they were equally keen on the aircraft). The fresh batch of flight attendants, however, didn’t seem all that excited and carried themselves as if it were any ol’ flight.

We pushed back on-time and were airborne within minutes. I do quite love the Sky Interior and took particular notice of it on this flight.

Check out the varying degrees of window darkness in the following two pics. Row 1 has their “shades” fully open in the first pic while row 2’s shades are partially closed. And the second shows a fully darkened row 1 and partially darkened row 2. The jury is still out for me whether the fully darkened shades will be completely effective on a long-haul flight overseas when the sun rises before the cabin does.

Dinner onboard was a choice between chicken cacciatore or pasta – I went with the former.

After dinner, literally everyone was up and about either chatting or getting an airborne tour of the pilot rest area. My thoughts on the inflight crew being “meh” changed ever so slightly because of their willingness to let us up for a peek.

Back at my seat, I noticed the scuff marks (not from me!) on the seat shell in front of me for the first time… this poor bird is already getting banged up. Hopefully a little cleaner will polish those right off.

Both the excitement and length of the day were getting to me at this point, so I reclined back and dozed off until nearly landing.

And finally, here are my random impressions and comments.

• It’s a noticeably quieter aircraft.
• As I mentioned above, for the larger footwells in BusinessFirst, go for the bulkhead seats in row 1 or 4.
• The bar area in the forward BusinessFirst cabin is aesthetically appealing to see while seated, but I would have placed it behind row 3 thereby shifting the center section of seats a bit further away from the lavatory doors. All of the aisle seats in row 3 (particularly the center section) would get a yellow SeatGuru rating from me.
• Since the pilot rest area is above row 1, there is no overhead bin storage in the center section. And row 2 (center) only has a half-bin on each side (if that).
• The inward opening lavatory doors don’t operate smoothly (and I don’t think it was just me).
• Will the darkening windows be fully effective when the sun rises and the entire cabin is sleeping?
• Row 16 has a fantastic amount of legroom along the windowside bulkheads – the center section of row 16 appears to have slightly less room.
• I think United missed the boat in not putting a window in the lavatories a la ANA’s 787s.
• I had no sense of a lower cabin pressure or higher humidity setting – perhaps I will on a long-haul flight.

Have you flown United’s Dreamliner yet? What are some of your impressions?

Related posts:

United 787 Inaugural: Chicago to Houston

United 787 Inaugural: Houston to Chicago

United 787 Inaugural: Pre-Departure Festivities

When I returned to gate C20 after a brief visit to the United Club, the gate room was as packed for the departure as it was for the arrival. A line of 25 to 35 people had already jammed the boarding lanes and after a brief delay, boarding began for flight 1510 bound for Houston.

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Introduction

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Pre-Departure Festivities

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1116 IAH to ORD

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Chicago Arrival Celebration

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1510 ORD to IAH

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1209 IAH to LAX

There were several of us taking the return flight back to Houston after having just arrived on the inaugural. And there were a few very enthusiastic first-time riders, as well, most of whom were sitting in BusinessFirst. I purposely decided to fly coach on this flight to see how the ride was in back and selected 16A, the bulkhead window seat.

Besides row 7 on United’s Airbus(es), this was the most spacious bulkhead seat I’ve experienced (exit rows excluded). I had a fantastic seatmate in 16B, Chris Sloan of Airchive.com, and a United employee sat in 16C.

We pushed back nearly on-time with minimal fanfare, though a few people watched us taxi away. I heard a couple of claps upon liftoff, but nothing like the inaugural round of applause.

Once airborne, Captain Starling came on the PA welcoming us on the 787 and gave a brief review of our flight path. As I usually do, I pulled up the IFE screen from the armrest to activate the map.

I was impressed with the size of the screen and absolutely love how new and undamaged it was. Those poor things get banged around so much that I’m certain by now they’ve seen some abuse. The control unit is located in the hard-walled seat divider (no movable armrests in the bulkhead).

I took a quick trip to the lav before beverage service started and noticed the unique ashtray next to the door.

Once we hit cruising altitude, the crew began their service. Chris and I began a friendly and informative chat with the United employee in 16C and Jack Harty of Airways Magazine joined us in the bulkhead. What was unusual is it seemed that we were the only four really enjoying the ride and having a mini party while the rest of the cabin remained silent. Perhaps more was going on ahead of the curtain.

A little piece of Continental Airlines made its way onto this flight in the galley.

The flight sailed by as Chris, Jack, the United employee, myself and another enthusiastic rider who sat further back in the cabin were deep in conversation on all things United and aviation.

Houston weather was pleasant when we landed and pulled into gate. There were some new riders waiting for the next flight to LAX and many of us who disembarked headed over to the windows to capture a few photos of this beautiful aircraft.

I had nearly two hours before my final flight of the day back to LAX, so I said goodbye to Chris and Jack and headed to the United Club to upload my pictures and video on my laptop.

Up next: UA Flight 1209 IAH to LAX and my overall impressions of United’s 787

Related posts:

United 787 Inaugural: Takeoff Video

United 787 Inaugural: Chicago Arrival Celebration

United 787 Inaugural: Flight 1116 IAH to ORD

After a flight that went by far too quickly, we were on final approach for runway 10 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Introduction

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Pre-Departure Festivities

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1116 IAH to ORD

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Chicago Arrival Celebration

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1510 ORD to IAH

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1209 IAH to LAX

Source: United Airlines

Captain Jim Starling brought us in for a smooth landing as you’ll see in the video below, which includes the water cannon salute at gate C20, deplaning and preparations for the arrival ceremony.

I was the third passenger to exit the aircraft among cheers and applause from a crowded gate room.

Jeff Smisek

Jeff Smisek deplaned behind me receiving a warm welcome and staff escorted him over to the stage area. Once all passengers and the crew had disembarked, Charles Duncan, United’s vice president of operations at ORD, kicked off the celebratory speeches by Jeff and Captain Starling:

And with that, the successful revenue inaugural of United’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner had concluded. But my day was young and after a quick visit to the United Club with Bruce and Mommy Points, I headed back to gate C20 for the return flight to Houston.

Up next: UA Flight 1510 ORD to IAH

Related posts:

United Airlines Boeing 787 Inaugural: Flight 1116 IAH to ORD

United Airlines Boeing 787 Inaugural: Pre-Departure Festivities

United Airlines Boeing 787 Inaugural: Takeoff Video