File this under “Sign of the Times”: this weekend, I was watching some U.S. Open tennis and saw a Continental Airlines commercial where onlookers were cooing over the delivery of a newborn. The proud papa, of course, was a pilot and his offspring was a “newborn” jet — he explained he was taking delivery of a number of them this year (the jet appeared to be a 737).

It got me to thinking about the long awaited Boeing Dreamliner — a quick google took to me to a site I hadn’t seen before — and I was amazed at a graphic with dozens of tail liveries of the proud “papas” who will be taking delivery (livery = graphic design painted on the plane).

It wasn’t readily apparent that any U.S. based airlines planned on a 787 “newborn”, but after closer inspection it appears there are in fact 2 out of the dozens of “buyers” — Northwest and Continental. Conspicuously absent were most western European airlines who I presume are Airbus aficianados.

I suppose a lot has to do with the weak dollar, the price of fuel and the state of U.S.airline financials — I am wondering, however, how things will look in 3-4 years when oil is not an issue anymore and some of the “non-U.S. airlines” begin flying these spanking new, state-of-the-art planes to/from the U.S. — how easy will it be for U.S. airlines to compete?

You can play airline “Concentration” on this Boeing site (remember Concentration, that old TV game show?) by clicking on the interactive picture at left — simply click on a tail in the picture, and finding out exactly who is going to be “taking delivery” of these coveted newborns …