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The story of how the 787 was not meant to be called “The Dreamliner.”

“The Dreamliner.” Have you heard of it before. I am talking about the majestic, bird like Boeing 787 series. This airplane is a widebody aircraft that has 2 GENX turbofan engines and a wingspan of 60 meters with a very impressive wing flex. Sounds like an airlines dream. But the 787 was never meant to be called “The Dreamliner.”

First look: Why United's new 787-9 Dreamliner is a huge upgrade for flyers  - The Points Guy
Thanks to United Airlines for this image.

The Boeing 787 was created as competition to the A350. They wanted the 787 to completely take over the A350 so as a marketing strategy, Boeing wanted to come up with a nickname for the new plane. They thought and agreed on 4 choices and they all were going to take a vote on the nicknames. The 4 options of nicknames they came up with were, Global Cruiser, The Dreamliner, eLiner and Stratoclimber. The popular nickname between the Boeing employees was the “Global Cruiser” so they launched a poll to the public in the thought that “Global Cruiser” was going to win for sure.

Airbus Industrie Airbus A350-900 | Latest Photos | Planespotters.net
This is the A350, competitor to the Boeing 787. Thanks to Airbus for this image.

Turns out that Boeing was wrong. The public thought that “The Dreamliner” sounded the best. Boeing wanted to nickname the 787 as “The Global Cruiser” but the public wanted to nickname it “The Dreamliner.” To increase the amount of sales, Boeing named the plane as “The Dreamliner”

Latest Boeing Dreamliner takes off | CNN
Thanks to Boeing for this image.

I personally feel the name suits the airplane with it’s modernized technology. Would you have named the plane any different? But that is the story of how the 787 got it’s name.

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