United Airlines put its 787 back in the air this week, with both the airline and Boeing hoping to put the plane's four-month grounding behind them. The flight from Houston to Chicago was just the kind of 787 flight that airlines are hoping for-uneventful.
Both United CEO Jeff Smisek and Boeing CEO Jim McNerney were on board Monday's flight, and United promoted the plane's return to service. Said Smisek, "I'll tell you, Jim, it was a fairly expensive piece of sculpture to have on the ground so we're really delighted to have it up and flying."
United is the only U.S. airline currently flying the 787. The airline, based in Chicago, said it will use 787s on shorter domestic flights before resuming international flying June 10. Those long international flights are the main reason the 787 exists. Its medium size and fuel efficiency are a good fit for long routes. Starting with shorter domestic flights "will give us a period to ramp up full 787 operations," United spokeswoman Christen David said, an AP news release reports.
Four of its six 787s have been fixed, and United said the other two will get the battery modification in coming days. Smoldering batteries on two 787s owned by other airlines prompted authorities to ground the planes in January. The failure of Boeing's newest, flashiest and most important plane embarrassed the company and its customers, reports the news release by AP writer Joshua Freed.
"The Dreamliner is more than just an aircraft, it symbolizes the sprit of American industry and innovation," said Greg Raiff, chief executive pfficer at Private Jet Services Group, in a statement. "Boeing's production of airliners as the only U.S. producer in the commercial transportation category is one of the few bright spots in our balance of trade. Every time a Boeing product lands at one of the thousands of airports around the globe it speaks to competencies of American invitation and industry."
Airlines including Japan Airlines and South America's LATAM Airlines Group, said profit took a hit because of the grounding. LATAM said it still had to make payments on the plane and pay for crews and maintenance. It expects to resume flying soon.
United was forced to delay planned international flights, and the grounding reduced first-quarter earnings by $11 million. The two battery incidents in January included an emergency landing of one plane, and a fire on another. Federal authorities lifted the grounding order on April 19 but it has taken Boeing and the airlines a few more weeks to fix most of them.
The incidents never caused any serious injuries. But the January grounding embarrassed Boeing and disrupted schedules at the eight airlines that were flying the planes. The company had delivered 50 of the planes worldwide.
Boeing Co. never did figure out the root cause of the battery incidents. Instead, it redesigned the battery and its charger. The idea was to eliminate all of the possible causes, 787 chief engineer Mike Sinnett said in an online chat last week where he and a Boeing test pilot took questions about the plane.
Ethiopian Airlines resumed flying 787s on April 27, and Air India and Qatar Airways have also restarted flights. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines have both said they expect to restart 787 flights on June 1.
Boeing said that as of Sunday, 45 planes have gotten the battery fix out of 50 that were in service when they were grounded. It said it will finish the modifications by the end of May.
Boeing never stopped making 787s, but deliveries were halted. They resumed last week, and Boeing has since delivered two planes, both with the new battery system.
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