Boeing’s latest Dreamliner plane: Just a dream?

With our strong presence in the hospitality sector, we’re always keeping one eye on trends that may be coming travelers’ way.  For example, a little while ago we blogged about some of the designs companies had commissioned to move airplanes into the next generation. There were certainly some unique ideas and conceptual designs that were created which would’ve tested the aviation industry. While there will be a great deal of interest and eventually progress on turning these concepts into something real, we can all accept that it won’t be for quite a few years.

What has already been in progress for quite a few years, albeit disappointingly, is the supposed new standard for aviation travel, the Boeing Dreamliner. Claiming to be quieter and more comfortable for air travelers the airline giant has now gone three years past the scheduled delivery of the plane and has cost Boeing an undisclosed, but presumably large, amount.

What’s troubling is that something of this magnitude – there are over 825 orders in for the new model – is suffering from so many delays for so many reasons. It hasn’t affected shares, which went up at the time of the announcement because investors feared the delay would be longer. By delaying a leap toward a quieter, more efficient and overall more pleasant flight because of delays, that with a little more planning could’ve been avoided, just slows whatever progress the travel industry as a whole could be making.

Hopefully soon we’ll be able to travel on the airliner of our dreams, and when we do we’ll be glad Boeing got everything right despite the delays. But at this rate, as soon as Boeing gets it together, we’ll be flying in one of these a few years later.