Senior Boeing executives are to give the first public explanation of a prototype battery fix for the company’s grounded Dreamliners in Japan on Friday after US authorities approved test flights.
Raymond Conner, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and Mike Sinnett, head of Boeing’s 787 programme, are scheduled to hold a news conference in Tokyo starting at 10:00 am (0100 GMT), the company said on Thursday.
“Boeing executives will be in Tokyo to provide details on the proposed permanent solution to the 787 battery issue,” the company said in a brief statement.
The worldwide grounding of Dreamliners has thrown schedules into disarray, especially in Japan where All Nippon Airways, the biggest operator of the plane, has been forced to cancel more than 3,600 flights to the end of May.
The planned conference, which will be webcast live, comes after the US Federal Aviation Administration Tuesday approved Boeing’s plan for the 787 batteries and said the company could carry out test flights with the fix.
The FAA said it had given the go-ahead after “thoroughly reviewing” Boeing’s February 22 plan to address risks after lithium-ion batteries malfunctioned on two 787 Dreamliner aircraft in mid-January.
A short circuit started a fire on a parked 787 at Boston’s Logan Airport and smoke from a battery forced an emergency landing in Japan.
The incidents led to the grounding of all 50 787s in service worldwide on January 16.
The US aircraft giant, which has bet heavily on its lightweight plane at a time when airlines are eager to slash fuel costs, desperately wants to get it back in the air.
Boeing to detail Dreamliner battery fix in Tokyo
