FAA gives green light to 787

[JF Mezei]

http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=2660

So, FAA gave green light for Boeing's proposed fixes. Technically, this
allows United to restart flights, but it is expected other national
agencies will follow in FAA's footsteps.


Boeing has deployed teams to locations around the world to begin
installing improved battery systems on 787s. Kits with the parts needed
for the new battery systems are staged for shipment and new batteries
also will be shipped immediately. Teams have been assigned to customer
locations to install the new systems. Airplanes will be modified in
approximately the order they were delivered.
...
Boeing will also begin installing the changes on new airplanes at the
company's two 787 final-assembly plants, with deliveries expected to
resume in the weeks ahead. Despite the disruption in deliveries that
began in January, Boeing expects to complete all planned 2013 deliveries
by the end of the year. Boeing further expects that the 787 battery
issue will have no significant impact to its 2013 financial guidance.

====

Will be interesting to see how ANA returns the 787s to flight. 1 at a
time as soon as the fix is ready ? Or will it have to deal with
scheduling issues and keep some fixed 787s parked for some period of
time until the updated schedules calls for them ?

Similarly, while Boeing expects to deliver the same number of 787s by
end of year, at what pace the already built ones will be delivered will
be ineresting since airlines can't accept more than a few aircraft per
month due to training and other logistics.


What I retain from this story is that while Boeing initially swore the
batteries themselves were safe and focused the PR efforts on
containment, at the end of the day, the real fix was really in how the
cells are manufacturerd to avoid short circuits, and changing some of
the controller logic.

How long before airlines know whether the new batteries have become
reliable ? 3 months ? 6 months ? a year ?
--
misc.travel.air-industry is a moderated newsgroup. Please mail messages to
mt...@airinfo.aero, and see http://mtai.airinfo.aero for the FAQ and policies.