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Boeing Begins Modifying 787 Batteries | Boeing Begins Modifying 787 Batteries |
(about 7 hours later) | |
Teams of Boeing engineers and technicians began fanning out across the globe Monday to modify the battery systems of 50 of the company’s 787 Dreamliner jets and get the grounded fleet back in the air. | Teams of Boeing engineers and technicians began fanning out across the globe Monday to modify the battery systems of 50 of the company’s 787 Dreamliner jets and get the grounded fleet back in the air. |
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Friday approved Boeing’s plans to install modification kits intended to reduce the risk of overheating in the planes’ lithium-ion batteries. The planes have been grounded for three months, since one of the lightweight batteries erupted in fire and another emitted smoke on separate planes in January. | |
A team of around 30 technicians arrived in Japan over the weekend and began work early Monday, Larry Loftis, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, said during a telephone briefing with reporters. All Nippon Airways and Japan Air Lines are the biggest operators of the Dreamliner, with 24 of the planes between them, and were the first to fly the jets in 2011; they were also the airlines that experienced fire or smoke in 787 batteries. | |
“We are modifying in the order in which we delivered” the planes, Mr. Loftis said. He added that Japanese regulators had also approved the installation of the kits, although they have not yet formally validated the F.A.A.’s safety certification of the modifications. | |
Each modification kit should take about five days to install, Mr. Loftis said. The kits include a new steel containment box for the battery, a new venting system, battery chargers, wiring and other associated hardware built by Boeing itself. Modified batteries, which include better insulation between the cells, are to be shipped separately to the airlines by GS Yuasa, the Japanese maker of the original batteries used in the 787. | |
Six other carriers have 787s in their fleets: Air India, Ethiopian Airlines, LAN Airlines of Chile, LOT of Poland, Qatar Airways and United Airlines of the United States. Orders for about 800 additional 787s are in the pipeline. | Six other carriers have 787s in their fleets: Air India, Ethiopian Airlines, LAN Airlines of Chile, LOT of Poland, Qatar Airways and United Airlines of the United States. Orders for about 800 additional 787s are in the pipeline. |
Boeing said it would deploy around 300 technicians to nine countries in the coming months to retrofit the 787s. | |
Investigators in the United States and Japan have not identified what caused the 787’s batteries to overheat. But Boeing and the F.A.A. have said that after more than 100,000 hours of tests on the modified system, they were satisfied that the changes should eliminate concerns that the batteries could ignite. | |
Boeing has a strong incentive to get the planes flying in Japan as soon as possible. The Japanese 787 fleet accounts for nearly half of all the Dreamliners that have been delivered, and Japanese suppliers played a large role in building the plane — providing 35 percent of all its components, including its wings. | |
The Japanese transportation minister, Akihiro Ota, said Friday that regulators there were in the final stages of evaluating the safety of the battery system changes. Analysts said Japanese regulators could require a few additional safeguards before approving the modified planes for flight. | The Japanese transportation minister, Akihiro Ota, said Friday that regulators there were in the final stages of evaluating the safety of the battery system changes. Analysts said Japanese regulators could require a few additional safeguards before approving the modified planes for flight. |
Mr. Loftis said he could not predict how long it might take to obtain approval from regulators in Japan and elsewhere. The F.A.A. has primary authority to regulate and certify the safety of Boeing aircraft and, typically, its decisions are validated by other countries with few changes. “I am not expecting anything out of the ordinary” in the recertification of the 787 by foreign regulators, Mr. Loftis said. “They have the documentation and the analysis we have done. I would expect them to grant their approvals in the near future.” | |
It was not immediately clear when or where the first 787s would return to the skies. Once Boeing’s technicians have made the modifications, the planes will be turned back over to the airlines, which will follow their own procedures to prepare them for service. All Nippon, which operates 17 Dreamliners, is planning to make 100 to 200 test flights next month before resuming passenger service in June, Reuters reported last week. | |
Analysts predicted that it would be months before the entire 787 fleet was back in the air but said it would probably not be long before the first passenger flights resumed. | |
“It would be unwise to believe that the process of rectification will be fully complete before the end of the summer,” said Howard Wheeldon, an independent investment strategist in London, adding, “It seems to me that we can expect the first 787 to resume flying in airline service within a matter of weeks.” | “It would be unwise to believe that the process of rectification will be fully complete before the end of the summer,” said Howard Wheeldon, an independent investment strategist in London, adding, “It seems to me that we can expect the first 787 to resume flying in airline service within a matter of weeks.” |
With the F.A.A.’s approval of the battery modifications, Boeing said it was also beginning discussions with airlines about rescheduling deliveries of jets on order. The company has continued to build planes over the past three months, and Boeing has more than a dozen finished planes parked at its factories in Washington State and South Carolina. | |
Before the battery problems in January, Boeing had hoped to double its production of 787s to 10 per month by the end of this year, from 5 per month at present. Mr. Loftis declined to say Monday when Boeing would be in a position to begin ramping up production. | |
Boeing was expected to give an update on the situation Wednesday, when it reports first-quarter results. |
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