Flying the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner

There has been plenty of advertising of the new Dreamliner 787-10 service between Perth and Singapore by Singapore Airlines. I have been lucky enough to be one of the first to fly this route and I have to admit - it's pretty good.

My outbound flight from Perth to Singapore was one of the older aircraft, I didn't think much about it as I wasn't really following the advertising - I fly Singapore Airlines anyway. The return trip two weeks later was on the the Dreamliner and based on the accounts of the people on the aircraft - they were pretty happy. My flight wasn't so great, I was sat next to a fairly large guy who took up all of his seat and plenty of mine - that happens.

He decided to fly in shorts and a T-shirt with only thongs as footwear, he kicked them off well before I got to my seat and I learned pretty quick that his feet stank. Fortunately, I had a window seat so I was able to sit with my head up close to the window trying to get the fresh air streaming in - it wasn't enough. That being said, my experience on the 787-10 was pretty good regardless. Much is made of the entertainment package, I can't really judge how good it was as my entertainment unit froze and that was the end of my entertainment - everyone else on the aircraft had no problems.

Fortunately I had my laptop with me and I was able to resume work, I shouldn't waste my time watching movies when there was work to do. People argue that pilots are not required anymore as the aircraft virtually flys itself, that is until a problem is encountered with the technology and requires diagnostics and trouble-shooting. Ok, so an entertainment screen is a little different from avionics, yet in many respects the same principles apply.

A peculiarity of the windows was they were not fitted with shades, there is a dimming effect controlled by a button that did not work for the whole flight until we actually touched down in Perth and then magically the electronic window shades worked. As we were heading to immigration, I heard passengers chatting on how great the experience was and I would have to agree.

Singapore Airlines is a quality airline and they run a pretty good service, a fat passenger is not the fault of Singapore Airlines and they had no control over the state of his feet. I look forward to my next experience on the Dreamliner and I hope there will be no more stinky feet.