Boeing 787 designed for passenger comfort

The bigger luggage bins are designed to hold four standard-size wheeled carry-on bags, freeing up the space under the seats.

“Now you’ll have space for your legs instead of your luggage,’’ says Klaus Brauer, Boeing’s director of passenger satisfaction and revenue.

And for passengers who dislike being awakened by harsh, bright lights after a trans-Atlantic flight, the 787 has “mood lighting” features that can simulate sunrises and vivid blue sky scenes. The lighting can even make the airline food look more appealing.

The cabin air will feel less dry because of higher humidity settings and it will be cleaner to breathe thanks to a sophisticated air purification system, a first for Boeing. In addition, the cabin will feel more comfortable because it will be pressurized at an altitude of 6,000 feet rather than the standard 8,000 feet.

By increasing the humidity and adding new filtration technologies, Boeing says the number of passengers experiencing symptoms associated with dryness will be reduced by 50 percent.

“These are all welcome changes,’’ says David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, an airline passenger advocacy group. But he says the most significant improvement for passengers will be the ability to fly longer distances on non-stop flights. “It’s a bet Boeing made and the airlines have voted with their pocketbooks,’’ Stempler says of Boeing’s decision to focus on a mid-size airplane with more route flexibility than a super jumbo to compete with the Airbus A380.

Boeing’s Blake Emery says the company started with a clean slate and designed the 787 with a welcoming feeling of “openness and calm” in an effort to re-connect with the often-disgruntled flying public.

“We wanted to bring back the magic of flying,’’ says Emery, Boeing’s director of differentiation strategy. “We literally wanted people to walk in and say “wow.’”

The new 787 features are possible because of the all-composite airframe which does not corrode or expand the way the traditional aluminum does. The 787, which has already made aviation history by becoming the hottest-selling commercial jet ever, is the first all-new passenger airplane to have a plastic airframe.

For pilots, the airplane’s new cockpit features newly designed, high-tech seats, four laptop-sized screens, heads-up display panels suspended at eye-level and bigger windows, giving them better vantages.

The 787 systems, including the turbulence taming software, are all being tested at Boeing’s labs in Seattle in preparation for the jet’s first real flight in September.

Engineers are using a 75-ton “airplane” that never leaves the ground to find and resolve problems early so they won’t crop up on the factory floor or in flight test. Boeing engineers have already identified some 750 problems in the Integration Test Vehicle lab, nicknamed the "Iron Bird,” according to flight controls senior manager Peter van Leynseele. As of late May, all but 70 of the problem areas had been resolved.

Len Inderhees, program lead for the Iron Bird team, says his crew will continue its detective work 24 hours a day, seven days a week until all of the glitches have been eliminated.

“It’s crunch time,’’ he says.

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