Boeing's 'Dreamliner' visits Phoenix

The newest airliner from the Boeing company, the 787 landed in Phoenix on Friday as part of its world tour roll out. Hundreds of people here in Phoenix played a role in the development and design of the plane and its systems.  KJZZ’s Al Macias reports.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner The Boeing 787 Dreamliner made a stop in Phoenix during the weekend. (Photo courtesy of Monica Wehri/Boeing)

AL MACIAS: The huge blue-and-white twin engine jet touched down at Sky Harbor late Friday afternoon. The plane is the first commercial jet to be made of composite materials which makes it lighter and more fuel efficient. The plane was built at the manufacturer’s home in Seattle. Boeing and Honeywell engineers worked together here in the Valley, developing flight controls and other systems. Cheryl Sizelove is with Boeing, and she says the 787 is very special to the local team.

CHERYL SIZELOVE: This is a chance of a lifetime for the engineers working this program, they only get one of these in their lifetime. It’s revolutionary, and I mean all of the enhancements the improvements over other airlines, other airplanes, it’s just amazing.

MACIAS: John Bolton is with Honeywell. He says the company is applying the technology and lessons learned from the development of  787 Dreamliner.

JOHN BOLTON: We’ll look at that and utilize that similar technology for other applications in other aircraft with Boeing in Seattle as well as other applications with business jets.

MACIAS: The plane has many high-tech systems and cutting-edge technology, but windows that can be dimmed and larger overhead luggage bins may be what passengers remember most when they fly the 787.


Pledge Now
Give Monthly
Facebook logo
Twitter logo

Please read our Contributor Confidentiality Policy and the KJZZ Ethics and Practices guidelines. KJZZ supports Equal Employment Opportunities and works against discrimination in employment. For more information, please see KJZZ's Employment and EEO Information page.
For questions or comments about this website, please contact the KJZZ webmaster. For general comments or questions see the Contact KJZZ page for a listing of contacts by topic. Please note: Station policy mandates that listeners who win on-air giveaways on this station are not eligible to win again for 30 days.
Email regarding NPR's coverage, ethics, and funding can be sent to the NPR Ombudsman, who maintains an informative web page. For comments or concerns regarding NPR programs, listeners with a general inquiry may send an email to nprhelp@npr.org

KJZZ is a service of Rio Salado College, and Maricopa Community Colleges.
Copyright© 2013 KJZZ/Rio Salado College/MCCCD