A line of 787 jets are parked Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, at Paine Field in Everett, Wash. Federal officials say they are temporarily grounding Boeing's 787 Dreamliners until the risk of possible battery fires is addressed. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it will issue an emergency safety order requiring U.S. airlines to temporarily cease operating the 787, Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced plane. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
-
A line of 787 jets are parked Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, at Paine Field in Everett, Wash. Federal officials say they are temporarily grounding Boeing's 787 Dreamliners until the risk of possible battery fires is addressed. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it will issue an emergency safety order requiring U.S. airlines to temporarily cease operating the 787, Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced plane. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
-
A 787 jet painted in a Delta livery is seen Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, at Paine Field in Everett, Wash. Federal officials say they are temporarily grounding Boeing's 787 Dreamliners until the risk of possible battery fires is addressed. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it will issue an emergency safety order requiring U.S. airlines to temporarily cease operating the 787, Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced plane. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
-
All Nippon Airways' Boeing 787 "the Dreamliners" passenger jets park on the tarmac as Japan Airlines' Boeing 737 taxies by them at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. U.S. safety officials and Boeing inspectors joined a Japanese investigation Friday into the 787 jet at the center of a worldwide grounding of the technologically advanced aircraft. In the wake of the incident, nearly all 50 of the 787s in use around the world have been grounded. Aviation authorities in Japan have directed ANA, which owns 17 of the planes, and Japan Airlines, with seven, not to fly the jets until questions over their safety have been resolved. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
-
This photo taken Feb. 7, 2013 show a Boeing 787 jet landing, in view of a line of parked 787's at Paine Field in Everett, Wash. Boeing has developed a plan that it intends to propose to federal regulators to temporarily fix problems with the 787 Dreamliner’s batteries that have kept the planes on the ground for more than a month, a congressional official told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
-
FILE- In this Jan. 11, 2013 file photo, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner speaks during a news conference at the Transportation Department in Washington to discuss a comprehensive review of Boeing 787 critical systems, including the design, manufacture and assembly after a fire and a fuel leak earlier in the week. Conner met with Japan's transport minister and other officials in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Feb. 28 to explain his company's proposal for resolving problems with the 787 Dreamliner's lithium-ion batteries that have kept the aircraft grounded for over a month. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
-
FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2013 file photo, All Nippon Airways' Boeing 787 "the Dreamliner" passenger jets park on the tarmac at Haneda airport in Tokyo. Boeing CEO Ray Conner met with Japan's transport minister and other officials in Tokyo on Thursday, Feb. 28, to explain his company's proposal for resolving problems with the 787 Dreamliner's lithium-ion batteries that have kept the aircraft grounded for over a month. Connor met earlier with All Nippon Airways, Boeing's launch customer with 17 of the 787s, said ANA spokeswoman Megumi Tezuka. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)
-
All Nippon Airways' Chief Executive Officier and President Shinichiro Ito speaks during a press conference at the company's office in Tokyo Friday, March 1, 2013. The president of ANA, Boeing's biggest single customer for its troubled 787 Dreamliner, said Friday that he believes the U.S. manufacturer has made progress in resolving problems with the aircraft's lithium-ion batteries. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)
-
All Nippon Airways' Chief Executive Officer and President Shinichiro Ito, left, and Vice President Osamu Shinobe hold a desk-top model of Boeing 767 during a press conference at the company's office in Tokyo Friday, March 1, 2013. The president of ANA, Boeing's biggest single customer for its troubled 787 Dreamliner, said Friday that he believes the U.S. manufacturer has made progress in resolving problems with the aircraft's lithium-ion batteries. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)
Boeing ready to move on 787 fix, if FAA approves
Boeing said Monday that it is set to move quickly to get its 787s back in the air if it gets federal approval for a fix for the batteries that have grounded the planes.
The Federal Aviation Administration is considering a plan that Boeing submitted on Feb. 22 for fixing the batteries. The FAA has said it expects its experts to recommend this week whether to accept the plan.
Ray Conner, who runs Boeing Co.'s commercial airplane unit, described the process to industry analysts at a J.P. Morgan aviation conference in New York.
The FAA certifies parts used on planes, and changes can prompt the need for a part's re-certification. The agency has to first certify Boeing's fix, then it has to approve testing for the fix, Conner said. Then Boeing will be able to install the fix on the 50 787s that have been delivered so far.
Once it gets FAA permission, "this will move really fast in terms of being able to get the airplanes back into the air," Conner said. "We are prepared, we are ready to go."
Conner didn't say how long he thought all that would take.
Boeing's fix has been described as a long-term solution aimed at making sure that short-circuiting in one battery cell can't spread to another.
The 787 has been grounded since Jan. 16 after one plane had a battery fire, and a smoking battery on another plane forced an emergency landing.
Deliveries of 787s are halted, but Boeing is still building them. It's making five per month now, and is moving to seven per month, on its way to 10 by a month by the end of the year. Boeing is still following its plan to speed up production.
"Obviously that could change if something were to go sideways with the FAA," Conner said.
Boeing has teams working on the speedup and some 200 engineers working on the battery fix.
"I'm kind of working both at this point in time," Conner said. "That's why I only live on four hours of sleep a night."
Boeing is about to begin building the 787-9, a longer version of the plane it makes now, with more seats.
And it has been tentatively planning to make a longer-still 787-10 if there's enough interest.
"Clearly having the fleet down right now has slowed things down a bit," Conner said, referring to the 787-10. "I think we would have been in much better shape from having people cross the finish line" if not for the battery problem. He said, however, he thinks interest is strong enough that Boeing will soon be able to commit to build the plane.
Chicago-based Boeing's stock fell 19 cents to $77.09.
Tags:
boeing, boeing co., federal aviation administration, faa, jan., ray conner, night, cents, feb., production, monday, planes, process, end, changes, point, plane, line, terms, need, time, business, way, new york, better shape, chicago-based boeing, battery, battery problem, emergency landing, conference, experts, agency, finish line, deliveries, industry analysts, long-term solution, federal approval, 787s, batteries, fix, faa permission, airplanes, battery cell, smoking battery, longer version, battery fix, speedup, conner, certify boeing, faa certifies parts, commercial airplane unit, j.p. morgan aviation
Print Page
