When the 787-10 Dreamliner got the FAA’s nod

With up to 20% lower fuel consumption, 30% less maintenance cost, and 15% less operating costs, Boeing’s Dreamliner series is everything it was hyped up to be. Captain Alexis Fecteau remembers one important milestone in the Dreamliner’s legend – the time it got the FAA’s nod to fly commercially.

It was early 2018 when Boeing announced upon accepting an ATC or amended type certificate from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that effectively cleared the 787-10 model for commercial service.

The issuance of the ATC marked the culmination of a flight test program that started almost a year before, in March 2017. During the test program, three flight test 787-10 Dreamliners were flown for a total of 900 test hours. The entire gauntlet served as the final exam for the Boeing airplane’s systems, handling, and performance. The FAA’s nod means that everything the plane and the team achieved during those 900 hours met all the requirements and standards of the agency for the safety of flight.

It took years of research, planning, design, development, testing, production, and so many other processes but like all the other Boeing airplanes that have taken to the sky, Captain Alexis Fecteau mentions that the rewards and the opportunity of service for humanity are more than worth the time and effort.

Captain Alexis Fecteau is a professional pilot, engineer, and Director of Marketing for Boeing Business Jets. He holds an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University and a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. For more insightful reads on Boeing, visit this website.