United Airlines has become the first North American carrier to take delivery of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner; the first of its 26 new-generation Dreamliners, each of which will come equipped with factory-fitted onboard Wi-Fi.
The 787-9 Dreamliner is a slightly “stretched” version of the 787-8 and includes all of the standard Dreamliner features such as larger windows, higher humidity, a lower cabin altitude and cleaner air.
United’s 787-9 is configured with 252 seats – 48 lie-flat seats in United BusinessFirst, 88 seats in Economy Plus and 116 in United Economy. The Economy Plus option offers a 35-inch seat pitch (compared to a 32-inch pitch in standard economy) and a four-inch recline (compared to three inches in economy). All passengers also have access to embedded on-demand in-flight entertainment (IFE) and in-seat power outlets.
The onboard Wi-Fi is powered by Panasonic Avionics’ eXConnect service, which will also be installed on all of United’s future Dreamliners, including the -8 and -10 variants.
United’s Vice President of Fleet, Ron Baur, commented: “Last year our customers gave the 787 the highest customer satisfaction scores of any aircraft in our fleet, and we know they’ll enjoy what the 787-9 has to offer.”
