Posted by BOEING777 at 7/8/07 4:11 a.m.

Thanks for sharing James. Pleasure reading it.

Considering to is http://fleetbuzz.wordpress.com/2007/07/07/the-one/, Im sure the world will finally get to see, share and experience history being re-written...

Posted by BOEING777 at 7/8/07 4:13 a.m.

Apologies for the error above!

Considering today is the day of the 787 premiere, Im sure the world will finally get to see, share and experience history being re-written...

Posted by Leelaw at 7/8/07 7:02 a.m.

Quite predictably, the Airbus partisans on Airliners.net have already declared Air Berlin a "low-quality/shaky" customer which will never take delivery of all the aircraft which were "announced" yesterday:

The grapes on vine of one particularly fatuous "Airbusier" from Belgium seem particularly sour, though somewhat interesting, if not amusing:

...The only thing known so far is Air Berlin has selected to operate 25 787 planes firmly, yet whether they are going to finance the purchase themselves, or rather take leases (BTW, could this be leases of already ordered planes?) is not known at present and will only be decided in a few years...

Let me take example of your much known method and simultaneously to this remark launch a hypothesis:

Maybe Airbus didn't like the idea of a customer which doesn't know if he will actually be buying the planes he commits to or rather just lease them, so they sent them packing and the original A330 deal fell through (not surprisingly Airbus wouldn't be showing much goodwill for a customer like Air Berlin, given the exceptionally strong demand for this plane from real customers) yet now it seems Air Berlin has found Boeing more willing to sign this kind of 'open deals'.

It is remarkable Air Berlin hoped to announce the widely rumoured A330 deal around Le Bourget, didn't get it done for financing reasons yet now all of a sudden it signs for the 787 on roll out day, yet again its financing package is not known: is Air Berlin in need of a manufacturer who is after some extra PR exposure through new deals, even if they are possibly only vapourware as the order could actually be just a lease (of already ordered planes???)?...

...it is interesting that in the run up to the roll out event of the 787 later today, which supposedly Boeing doesn't want to turn into a free stage for new customers which then take away much of the press exposure off the event and the launch customers to which Boeing owes much, Boeing is spending its time on these kind of half firm deals for which Airbus thanked a few weeks before when going to Paris.

The most likely hypothesis for this behaviour is that at the end of this day, the 787 backlog will not have grown by the many hundreds some have hoped for and that we will see merely some options converted (QF) or some previously booked UFOs unveiled, hence Boeing's desire to engage in this kind of voluntaristic deals Air Berlin was clearly seeking...

Always nice to know the "thinking" of the permanent denizens of the "fuhrerbunker" on Planet Airbus. :-)

Posted by unregistered user at 7/8/07 8:50 a.m.

Why would anyone complain about aircraft flying overhead. I would relish the opportunity.

Posted by unregistered user at 7/8/07 10:35 a.m.

To the lady complaining...I'm guessing you're an Airbus fan! Seriously, this is indeed aviation history in the making, and I say fair-play to Boeing for showing-off their 7-series product line.

The 787 joins that distinguished product line today, and personally, I can't wait for my first flight on one.

Here's hoping my favourite carrier, British Airways, signs-up for some soon!

Posted by unregistered user at 7/8/07 10:45 a.m.

@ Leelaw
why posting here about airliners.net? reply there!

Posted by unregistered user at 7/8/07 11:17 a.m.

To the poor oppressed soul on her precious "rural acreage"... My god, get a life!

If the FAA (not the Port) had airplanes holding over your property every night, I'd feel very differently. But you had to put up with a little bit of noise for a couple of hours, *once*, to accommodate a celebration of many years of work for thousands of people. The 787 rollout is the biggest, most emotional celebration for Boeing workers, families, and fans -- who make up a decent portion of the Seattle-area population -- in many years. The procession of 7x7 airliners was a beautiful part of that celebration, and meant a lot to a whole lot of people.

If your neighbor's kid worked his tail off for 10 years and gets into Harvard, and threw a loud party *once* to celebrate, would you call the cops on him? This is exactly the same situation except that it's meaningful to many more people.

Posted by unregistered user at 7/8/07 11:30 a.m.

I am profoundly saddened by the woman who wrote to you. Perhaps she could be thankful that there is commerce and employment in the area, that people are earning a living wage as a result for their families, and take comfort in the fact that people are celebrating a momentous, peacetime event instead of suffering from terror and opression as millions are elsewhere in the world.

It never ceases to amaze me the ways in which people can pull out the negative and ignore the almost overwhelming good that an event like these aircraft flying overhead symbolizes. How can anyone be so selfish?

Dave

Posted by Leelaw at 7/8/07 11:50 a.m.

why posting here about airliners.net? reply there!

Just thought the readers of James' blog might find a representative sample of the mood this weekend among the denizens of the "fuhrerbunker" on "Planet Airbus" interesting reading.

I apologize if my judgement was wrong in that regard.

Posted by unregistered user at 7/8/07 5:59 p.m.

LOL @ Air France 777. I guess they still rather buy Boeing then themselves (Airbus)

Posted by unregistered user at 7/9/07 8:42 a.m.

Get a life lady!!! I bet she's a former employee and Boeing wages paid for her rural acreage. People like her never cese to amazing me, got nothing to do but be a complainer. Maybe her next move will be underground.

Posted by unregistered user at 7/9/07 12:28 p.m.

An excellent feature - I only wish I could have been there. The Airbus vs. Boeing sniping is amusing, in that it shows the small-mindedness of both parties. Both companies build first-class airliners; each has about half the market - an ideal situation. The customers have a choice, and the builders are kept on their toes by the competition. Isn't this what free enterprise is all about? Good luck to both, say I, looking forward to the entry into service of the 787 and the A 380
Bill Matthews, Portsmouth, England

Posted by Dougloid at 7/10/07 1:23 p.m.

Maybe Airbus didn't like the idea of a customer which doesn't know if he will actually be buying the planes he commits to or rather just lease them, so they sent them packing and the original A330 deal fell through (not surprisingly Airbus wouldn't be showing much goodwill for a customer like Air Berlin, given the exceptionally strong demand for this plane from real customers) yet now it seems Air Berlin has found Boeing more willing to sign this kind of 'open deals'.

"It is remarkable Air Berlin hoped to announce the widely rumoured A330 deal around Le Bourget, didn't get it done for financing reasons yet now all of a sudden it signs for the 787 on roll out day, yet again its financing package is not known: is Air Berlin in need of a manufacturer who is after some extra PR exposure through new deals, even if they are possibly only vapourware as the order could actually be just a lease (of already ordered planes???)?..."

That's got to be the most convoluted bass ackwards nonsense I've heard in weeks. Even Ole Swampgas hisself would be proud of that boy.

The very idea that Airbus would send a real live customer packing is funny in the extreme, seeing as they're offering the A350, the aeronautical equivalent of the 12th Imam-we don't know what it looks like and we don't know when it will arrive if ever, but we're sure it'll be wonderful and any heretics must be expunged at all costs.

Talk about cloud cuckoo land.....

Posted by Leelaw at 7/14/07 5:44 p.m.

IIRC, the first 200 or so 737s were assembled at BFI, does anyone know if the building in the upper left corner of the photo is where this took place?