It appears that the FAA's re-certification of the lithium ion batteries is getting closer. First, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today that the approval will happen "soon" though the FAA isn't going to be rushed in its analysis of Boeing's data.
Another piece of news that indicates the decision is right over the horizon is an article from a local Ethiopian news website saying that Ethiopian's 787s will be the first airlines to return to service though I do suspect that this is more hopeful thinking as Boeing will focus on getting ANA's fleet back up in the air first. The article doesn't say when Ethiopian will resume flying though and it is up to each individual carrier when they will resume revenue service once their 787s are modified.
Nevertheless, it does give more of an indication of the trend in the belief that this grounding will very soon be over.
It's not that had to understand that ETA could resume 787 flights first, ahead of ANA and JAL. They probably do not have a strong regulatory body that Japan and the US have.
ReplyDeleteApparently Boeing has already dispatched teams to begin modifying the in-service air craft
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_04_15_2013_p41-567137.xml
Well, the real question is whether the Japanese regulatory authority will immediately allow the 787 to return to service when the FAA re-certifies the 787.
ReplyDeleteIf yes, then ANA and JAL are at the top of the mod list. If no, then Qatar and Ethiopian are as logic a starting point as anyplace else.
ANA 787 flights have been operating to Frankfurt throughout the grounding: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ANA204 . I wonder why/how?
ReplyDeleteI see the ANA 787 flights have been operating during the grounding: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ANA204 . How could that be?
ReplyDeleteThose are being flown on a 777. Flightaware has it wrong.
ReplyDelete