United Begins First 787 Dreamliner Flight by U.S. Airline

United Continental Holdings Inc. ushered in a new era for composite-plastic aircraft with its inaugural flight using Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner jet.

Flight 1116 to Chicago from Houston was the first by a U.S. airline with the plane whose fuselage is made chiefly from composite materials instead of the traditional aluminum, and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Smisek hailed it as “the best airplane in the world.”