Boeing delivered its first 787 Dreamliners during on of the safest aviation years on record. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
Grounded 787 Dreamliner aircraft will be back in the air soon, as the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday gave pivotal approval for Chicago-based Boeing's plan to fix onboard batteries that could catch fire.
"These changes to the 787 Battery will ensure the safety of the aircraft and its passengers," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.
The FAA said that next week it will issue instructions, about a 500-page manual, for making changes to the aircraft and publish a directive allowing 787s to return to the skies with a revamped Battery system, officially ending the three-month grounding.
Installing the Battery fix with Boeing's retrofit kit takes about five days, and installations began Friday, said Mike Sinnett, Boeing's chief project engineer for the 787. However, it's up to individual airlines how quickly they get their Dreamliners airborne. That's because carriers have their own procedures for reintroducing planes into service and requirements for additional pilot training, he said.
To assure proper installation of the Battery fix, the FAA will "closely monitor" the U.S. fleet, which is six Dreamliners operated by Chicago-based United Airlines, the only U.S. carrier to have the plane.
"This is a good step forward," said United Airlines spokeswoman Christen David. "We are mapping out a return-to-service plan, and we look forward to getting our 787s back in the air."
Aviation regulators around the world are likely to follow the FAA's lead and approve the new Battery design, an FAA spokeswoman said.
"FAA approval clears the way for us and the airlines to begin the process of returning the 787 to flight with continued confidence in the safety and reliability of this game-changing new airplane," Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said in a statement. "The promise of the 787 and the benefits it provides to airlines and their passengers remain fully intact as we take this important step forward with our customers and program partners."
Boeing and suppliers spent 200,000 labor hours designing the Battery fix and another 100,000 testing it, the company said.
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 will be shipped immediately, Boeing said. Airplanes will be modified in the order they were delivered. Boeing will also install the changes on 787s at its two production plants that have been completed but not delivered, with new deliveries expected "to resume in the weeks ahead."
Despite halting deliveries in January, Boeing expects to complete all planned 2013 deliveries by the end of the year, it said.
The FAA grounded all 50 of the carbon-composite Dreamliners worldwide Jan. 16 after a Battery produced flames on a Japan Airlines Co. 787 jet at Boston's Logan airport and a Battery melted on an All Nippon Airways Co. flight that had to make an emergency landing in Japan.
Despite failing to find a root cause for overheated batteries on the two 787s, the company has devised and tested a Battery system that it said should prevent other incidents and make it impossible for a fire to start with the lithium-ion batteries.
The highly anticipated Dreamliner, with a list price of $207 million, offers greater passenger comforts and far better fuel efficiency than any other airplane in its class, largely due to far more use of light composite materials rather than metals. That's a big deal for airlines whose largest expense is jet fuel.
Boeing was sharply criticism about the 787 after it delivered the plane more than three years late because of design and production delays. Despite damage to its reputation, however, the Battery problem and other glitches haven't hurt the aviation and defense behemoth financially.
The company said the 787 Battery issue will have no significant impact on its expected 2013 profits.
It also hasn't been hurt in the eyes of investors. Boeing's stock price is near a five-year high. Shares closed Friday on the New York Stock Exchange at $87.96, up 2.1 percent.
Despite avid news coverage, Dreamliner groundings have little direct impact on fliers in the United States. United Airlines is the only U.S. airline to have 787s. It has six in a fleet of about 700 planes. Until the grounding, United had been flying a temporary 787 route between Chicago O'Hare and Houston, as well as on other domestic routes.
Its current plan is to resume 787 domestic flights starting May 31 and launch an international route from Denver to Tokyo on June 10, David said. United's Dreamliners remain where they were when grounded, four in Houston, one in Los Angeles and one in Tokyo.