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�� August 2007 BOEING FRONTIERS
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Global and personal
The world says hello to the 787 Dreamliner
At the end of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner Premiere in Everett, Wash., thousands of representatives from customers, supplier partners, government, media—and Boeing employees—take the opportunity to get up close and personal with the airplane. Tim STAkE PHoTo
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Finally, the moment everyone’s been waiting for. The doors of the Everett factory open ... and there it is: the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the star of the 787 Dreamliner Premiere event. JIM ANDERSON PhOTO
By Lori Gunter
On July 8, 2007, the commercial air-line industry looked to Everett, Wash., to see the future at the 787
Dreamliner Premiere. In an event that was both a global celebration and a personal ex-perience, customers, manufacturers, sup-pliers, government officials and aviation enthusiasts greeted the new Boeing air-plane with thunderous applause and praise.
Early estimates indicate that more than 1.5 million people celebrated the unveiling of the all-new jetliner. There were roughly 35,000 people at more than 90 live events coordinated by or with Boeing. An addi-tional 630,000 people watched on the Web. Results on TV viewings are not as easy to tally, but with extensive international avail-ability of the satellite transmission in addi-tion to coverage of the event on Washing-ton state TV stations, it’s easy to say the world was watching.
As expected, enthusiasts from nations where the Dreamliner is being built and will be operated had strong participation in the event. But the World Wide Web brought in viewers from 195 countries—literally
from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.Media coverage of the event was unprec-
edented for Boeing. More than 300 reporters and camera crews attended, including rep-resentatives from CNN International, the three major U.S. broadcast TV networks, China’s SINA.com, Japan’s major outlets, Time magazine and many others.
“With this premiere we showcased to the world what Boeing is all about and what Boeing people can, and do, create,” said Scott Carson, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “For some, the memories of these events are beginning to fade. For me, and many other past and pres-ent Boeing employees, they never will.”
“I am so proud of the men and women who have helped bring this airplane to the world,” said Mike Bair, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. “In our business this happens only every 15 or so years, so we have to get it right. I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish together.”
Personal exPerience In Everett, attendees felt personally in-
cluded in the event.
For Capt. David Savy, CEO of 787 cus-tomer Air Seychelles, the audience response to the entrance parade of customers was the most amazing moment. Unprompted, the crowd stood and applauded as the chief exec-utive officers and leaders of all 47 customers took their seats. “It was incredible that the employees recognized us,” he said.
Flight attendants from each of the air-lines participated in the premiere event as well. It was a rare opportunity for them—the chance to meet other flight attendants from around the world. They swapped e-mail addresses and said they planned to stay in touch with one another.
Despite having to endure unusually hot weather for the Pacific Northwest and long entrance lines, employees responded equal-ly as enthusiastically to the event.
For many employees, the most person-al part of the celebration started when the factory doors opened to reveal the airplane. More than one confessed to being teary eyed to see the first of this new generation of airplanes. And it seemed no one could resist the desire to touch the new airplane following the ceremony.
Deborah Artis, who works on the 787
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More rollout notes• Premiere weekend was also the most popular weekend for weddings across the United States, with the date 7-7-07 falling the day before the roll-
out. Seattle brides were in a bit of a crunch, though: Rental chairs for their special day were hard to come by with 15,000 chairs already reserved for setup in the Everett factory.
• On an average day the Boeing Web page (www.Boeing.com) receives about 60,000 page requests. On rollout Sunday, there were more than 3 mil-lion. Among the nations where people logged on to view the Premiere were Azerbaijan, Algeria, Uruguay, Jamaica, Vatican City and Iran.
Above: U.S. TV journalist Tom Brokaw served as the emcee of the Dreamliner Premiere. During the event, the activities on the stage were projected on large screens. JIM ANDERSON PhOTO
Below: The event featured live reports from the locations of the partners that produce major sections of the airplane. Speaking from Mitsubishi heavy Industries in Nagoya, Japan, was Yoji Yamada, senior vice president and general manager for Mitsubishi heavy Industries Nagoya Aerospace Systems. MARIAN LOCKhART PhOTO
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Seventh heavenCustomers and dignitaries were treated to a one-of-a-kind flying display the day before the 787 Dreamliner Premiere.
In a tribute to the Boeing jetliners that preceded the 787, each of the Seven Series airplanes flew in to Boeing Field in Seattle and parked on the runway in front of The Museum of Flight,
where guests were gathered for a reception. This is the first time the airplanes have all been on display sequentially, providing a unique look at the family.
Members of the 787 team were surveyed in ad-vance of the Premiere to determine what would contribute to making a successful event. They clearly stated that the entire family of Boeing
products needed to be recognized—both for the technical advancements they have made and the contributions other Boeing employees have made to the 787 program.
In addition to the Saturday display, a special series of videos celebrated the Seven Series, one debuting daily during the eight days leading up to rollout.
members of the Boeing Seven-Series family of airplanes lined up in Seattle the day before the 787 Dreamliner Premiere event. on the taxiway, from left, are an Air France 777-300ER (Extended Range), a Delta Air lines 767; a Continental Airlines 757; the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 Flying Test Bed 747-200; an Alaska Airlines 737-800; a FedEx 727; an AirTran Airways 717; and an omega Air 707. in addi-tion, the Boeing 747-400 Dreamlifter was on static display (far left). ED TuRNER PHoTo
Baseline Standards Team, delighted in the response of her 11-year-old daughter, Mad-eline, at the end of the event.
“She scooted through all the people, shook hands with the chief executive of-ficer of ANA and introduced herself. He introduced himself. She told him, ‘Thank you for buying our airplane,’ and he said, ‘No, thank you!’” Artis said. “She climbed on the tire and took a picture of herself. I needed a wheelchair so I wasn’t able to go up to the airplane, but my daughter did, and that is what counted.”
The rush to touch the new airplane con-
firmed what designer Patricia Urquiola spoke about during the premiere event. She commented that you can tell a good design for any product because people want to touch it.
“You have a winner,” she said as thou-sands moved forward to get their chance to feel the future of flight.
Ten-year-old Patrick Hellstrand agreed. “It was cool, awesome and amazing to see the new airplane. The best part was to be able to jump up and touch the airplane. It was also kind of cool to meet the people dad works with every day.” Patrick’s father,
Christer Hellstrand, has spent much of the past year away from his son, working with 787 partners in Japan. As delighted as his son was to see the airplane, Christer was happy to see his son’s appreciation for the airplane he has been working on.
For that day, the world appreciated the hard work thousands have poured into the 787, and that appreciation had a lasting ef-fect on Boeing. Perhaps Leonard Bird, a third-shift manufacturing support manag-er on the 787 program, said it best: “I am proud to be a Boeing employee.” n
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