The military was the first to utilize carbon fiber skin for aircraft, because of the potential stealth benefits as well as being able to carry more payload because of the decreased weight. That technology has been shifted to commercial, and the 787 is the worlds first commercial plastic (carbon fiber) airplane. The 777 had a plastic tail section. Its kind of a sad statement on humanity that our biggest technological breakthroughs come from trying to kill people in new more efficient ways, but I guess its hard to argue with results.