September 1, 2007
Jet Green
Boeing’s new Dreamliner packs an array of enhancements to benefit passengers as well as the environment.
When the Boeing 787 Dreamliner debuted this summer, the media immediately latched onto its environmental story: the carbon-fiber aircraft is 20 percent more fuel efficient and less carbon emitting than its midsize competitors. Although Airbus claims that its slightly larger A350 will be greener on a mile-per-passenger basis, Boeing’s jet features unrivaled innovations, some the direct result of its composite structure. (For example, manufacturing the 787 produces less waste because, unlike aluminum, carbon fiber is woven and trimmed like cloth.) But the company is betting that the public’s interest will ultimately be sustained by more quotidian concerns—namely, an interior design by Boeing and Teague Associates that capitalizes on the unique fuselage to provide a roomier, more comfortable experience for passengers of all sizes and abilities.
