The New 777: Flight Crews Helped Design It, and It Shows
Hippy air travelers are going to love the Boeing 777.
No, not the flower children from the ‘60s. The ones with a little extra padding in their cabooses.
The world’s newest commercial jetliner, which United Airlines puts into service June 7, offers passengers and crew members plenty of elbow and seat room. A key reason is that Boeing Co. got United flight attendants and other employees involved in designing the airplane’s interior.
United has ordered 34 of the 777s to replace its aging McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s, the warhorses of its fleet of wide-body jets. The new jet will be used on long domestic flights as well as transatlantic routes.
Gordon McKinzie, United’s project manager for the 777, said that when the airline first started talking with Boeing about the design, getting more usable space in the cabin was a must. It had to be wider than the DC-10 but still seat nine across in the economy class, in a 2-5-2 configuration.
“We asked for five more inches and that’s what we got,” McKinzie said at a news briefing during Boeing’s delivery of the first jet to United earlier this month.
Those five inches, plus other modifications such as thinner interior walls, allow for wider aisles and the widest seats available in any aircraft in each class. The economy cabin seats are 18 1/2 inches wide instead of 17 inches, the standard in most other aircraft. For the traveler a little broad in the beam, that’s an immediately noticeable difference.
Aisle armrests also fold further back to give easier access to the row.
The overhead storage bins slope along the walls, so that a 5-foot, 5-inch person can stand up straight at a window seat without bending over.
Mike Bair, director of airline configuration for Boeing, said someone 6 feet, 6 inches tall can stand up under the center overhead bins without bumping his head.
The new aircraft also has more storage capacity for carry-on luggage than any other aircraft, with drop-down bins that are easy to reach from the aisles.
Seating configuration on United’s 777 calls for 231 seats in economy class. The airline added extra leg room for the first three rows of the economy cabin for its premier-class frequent fliers.
The plane has 49 seats in business and 12 in first class. In the latter, seats recline and foot rests simultaneously rise at the touch of a button. There’s also a push-button adjustment for providing the correct lumbar support.
United’s 777s also have individual video and audio monitors at each seat on the plane.
Boeing and United attribute the comfort of the 777 in large part to bringing the people who will work on the plane into the design process. Suggestions from United’s flight attendants, mechanics and cabin cleaners are evident.
For example, all lavatories are reachable without having to walk through the galley. Galley storage has been designed so that a flight attendant can find the milk in the same spot whether working on the right or left side of the work space. The cabin floors are completely smooth to make rolling food carts easier.
The lavatories are more spacious, with one big enough to accommodate wheelchairs. The 777 will also have an on-board wheelchair. Several of the lavatories have fold-down shelves for changing babies.
Flight attendants, not the captain, will be able to adjust cabin air conditioning and heating for each of three zones. A burned-out reading light can be quickly changed in flight.
United’s 777 is powered by two of the largest engines in the world, made by United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney division. The engines are just four inches shy of the diameter of the fuselage of a narrow-body Boeing 757.
Despite the size of the engines, the 777 is relatively quiet. Extra insulation helps muffle the engines and other mechanical noises.
“As anyone who gets on this aircraft will see, it’s a nice, comfortable way to travel,” said Robert Ropelewski, North American editor in chief of Interavia, an industry trade publication.
