By Anessa Cohen

For those of you who have not seen the vast marketing campaign from El Al announcing the arrival of their new Dreamliner 787s, or have not yet flown on one, I figured this would be a good time to share my personal opinion, reviewing my actual flight experience on this plane.

I decided to try out each section of the plane, kind of like Goldilocks, so I would be able to share my thoughts of how this new plane fares in comparison to the old 747s and 777s that most of us have been used to for many years. Some of my conclusions may very well surprise you.

My first impression when entering the plane is that the aisles on the 787 have been narrowed from the width of the aisles we all dealt with on the 747s and 777s. I could never have imagined that this would be a consideration given how narrow the old aisles were, but out with the old in with the new, as the saying goes. In the 787, you need to navigate the aisles on an angle in order not to bang into anything.

I started in the economy seats. They’re definitely smaller, although the padding on the seats is more comfortable than on the old ones. The entertainment system is superior to the one on the old planes. Economy being economy, what they have done to the economy section of the new 787 is …  economized! That’s the case for everything other than the TV and entertainment system, which might keep you busy even if the seating is tight.

Next I tried out the new category of premium. This is an interesting category since the seats are definitely superior to the economy-plus category on the 747s and 777s and has the potential to give the passenger more breathing room and foot space. These seats remind me of the old business-class seats in the smaller 737s years ago, but they are a bit narrower and do not recline as much. It’s definitely worth trying out how an entire 12-hour trip would feel in this new category.

Now we get to the new business–first class, which is radically changed from the old business-class sections in the 747s and 777s. On the new 787, the business–first class now consists of cubicles where each passenger has direct access to an aisle and can either choose a single cubicle by the window located on each side of the plane or one of two side-by-side cubicles in the middle.

Comparing this new concept to the old business class is a little more complicated. A passenger on the old 747s and 777s had nearly two and a half feet in front of each seat; in the new 787 nearly all of this space is gone and in its place is a seat that you must slip into, with similar space allotment to a seat in economy, although the seat itself is comfortable with a side-table console and small storage area. In front of the seat, on an angle, is a large touchscreen entertainment center, certainly an improvement from the old planes, and a nice-size slide-out table.

I told myself that it is still comfortable and I could possibly get used to it as long as the 180-degree bed was comfortable, so I pressed the side button to lower the seat into bed position to see how comfortable it actually was. I was seriously disappointed. First off, the top of the lowered seat by the headrest is so narrow that when lowered it is barely larger than the size of someone’s head. While the bed itself is more comfortable than the old business seat beds in the 747s and 777s, because of the cramped space, the lower part of the bed, where your legs are, goes under the console in the front with less than three inches of space, so that you feel as if you were lowered into a coffin, G-d forbid. And you cannot shift your position unless you bring the 180-degree bed back into a sitting position first and then try to reposition yourself and lower the seat into “coffin position” once again.

I really don’t get it — all they needed to do was build that console a few inches higher and it would have made all the difference in the world! I now found myself wishing I was back in the old 747s or 777s with the nice space you got when you booked business class.

Although I was really disappointed with the way the new business–first seats were designed on the 787 Dreamliner, I must mention that the airline staff members on board the plane were all terrific and warm and hospitable in every way. This did make up somewhat for the other disappointments.

The other disappointment that they could not cover up — even with all their goodwill — was the change in the food. Whereas in the past the food was always good on El Al, especially in business class, the food served was practically inedible.

So, El Al, what is going on? Who is in charge of all these lousy changes?

Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a licensed real-estate broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) and a licensed N.Y.S. loan officer (FM Home Loans) with over 20 years of experience offering full-service residential, commercial, and management real-estate services as well as mortgage services. She can be reached at 516-569-5007 or via her website, www.AVCrealty.com. Readers are encouraged to send questions or comments to anessa@AVCrealty.com

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here