My flight on Wednesday is the only direct from this country to Chicago. It is Etihad flight 151 Abu Dhabi direct to Chicago. The route's been open for two years and all along it's been flow by Airbus A340's.
Starting tomorrow the plane making the trip will be a Boeing 777 ER(Extended Range). That's means I'll be flying in a brand new, hot off the assembly line jet that Etihad took possession of just a few weeks ago. Exciting, right?
The TV screen, on demand shows/movies/music/games should be unmatched. Given that I will be on only the third flight that has passengers I suspect it will still have that new airplane smell.
So why I am not jumping for joy? By all accounts the 777 is a well designed, very safe plane - I'd rather be on it than any model of the Airbus. But are there kinks in this particular one that hasn't been worked out? It hasn't logged many flight hours. Hmm. And how about the pilots? From what I've read it is quite a different experience flying Airbus vs. Boeing.
I'm posting this to a friend who is a bigger aviation geek than anyone I met in three years of working at airports... and a friend who is pilot for Southwest Airlines. I'm curious about they think.
No comments:
Post a Comment