If anyone is trying to second-guess Air India forget it - see this article
AI may fly Dreamliner to San Francisco
One, it is the aviation minister and not the airline CEO and two, it is further from Singapore to SFO than direct using the distance calculators I have found (and others) on the web.
This debate has been lifted from another forum and it is quite amazing but should not be surprising when coupled with the 787 delivery saga .
Pete