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