The worldwide grounding of the Boeing 787, initiated Jan. 16, shows no sign of being lifted.
Meanwhile, Airbus said it could change plans to use lithium ion batteries on the A350 if necessary, though it remains comfortable with using the technology on the aircraft set to enter service in the second half of 2014.
Boeing chairman, president and CEO Jim McNerney, speaking this week during a conference call with analysts and reporters, declined to discuss what actions will have to be taken to get the 787 back in service. “I don’t want to pre-judge what form of entry into service will be acceptable [to US FAA],” he said. “We all want to understand root cause [of the Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) 787 lithium ion battery events] and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Speaking to reporters this week in France, Airbus president and CEO Fabrice Brégier said the company has no intention at this time to move away from using lithium ion batteries on the A350, according to Reuters. (There are lithium ion batteries on A380s, but they are used on a limited basis—to power the aircraft’s emergency lighting system. The A350, like the 787, would use the high-powered batteries on a more extensive, regular basis.)
“We studied the integration of these batteries on the A350 very carefully,” Brégier said, according to Reuters. “I am very relaxed about this.” He added that Airbus believes it has “resolved” any safety concerns related to using lithium ion batteries on the A350.
However, according to Reuters, he said, “Nothing prevents us from going back to a classical plan that we have been studying in parallel … If this design has to evolve, we have the time to do that. If it has to change in a more drastic way because the authorities reach the conclusion that the [battery] technology is not mature, then we have all the time we need to do this on the A350 before first delivery in the second half of 2014.”
McNerney said a “comprehensive root cause analysis and related series of technical analyses” are ongoing by Boeing, FAA, the US National Transportation Safety Board and the Japan Transport Safety Board to determine what happened on the JAL and ANA 787s. “I am confident [these analyses] will identify the root cause of these incidents,” he said.
McNerney emphasized the 787 grounding is a “compartmentalized issue” that is not detracting from other Boeing commercial aircraft programs.
atwonline.com
Meanwhile, Airbus said it could change plans to use lithium ion batteries on the A350 if necessary, though it remains comfortable with using the technology on the aircraft set to enter service in the second half of 2014.
Boeing chairman, president and CEO Jim McNerney, speaking this week during a conference call with analysts and reporters, declined to discuss what actions will have to be taken to get the 787 back in service. “I don’t want to pre-judge what form of entry into service will be acceptable [to US FAA],” he said. “We all want to understand root cause [of the Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) 787 lithium ion battery events] and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Speaking to reporters this week in France, Airbus president and CEO Fabrice Brégier said the company has no intention at this time to move away from using lithium ion batteries on the A350, according to Reuters. (There are lithium ion batteries on A380s, but they are used on a limited basis—to power the aircraft’s emergency lighting system. The A350, like the 787, would use the high-powered batteries on a more extensive, regular basis.)
“We studied the integration of these batteries on the A350 very carefully,” Brégier said, according to Reuters. “I am very relaxed about this.” He added that Airbus believes it has “resolved” any safety concerns related to using lithium ion batteries on the A350.
However, according to Reuters, he said, “Nothing prevents us from going back to a classical plan that we have been studying in parallel … If this design has to evolve, we have the time to do that. If it has to change in a more drastic way because the authorities reach the conclusion that the [battery] technology is not mature, then we have all the time we need to do this on the A350 before first delivery in the second half of 2014.”
McNerney said a “comprehensive root cause analysis and related series of technical analyses” are ongoing by Boeing, FAA, the US National Transportation Safety Board and the Japan Transport Safety Board to determine what happened on the JAL and ANA 787s. “I am confident [these analyses] will identify the root cause of these incidents,” he said.
McNerney emphasized the 787 grounding is a “compartmentalized issue” that is not detracting from other Boeing commercial aircraft programs.
atwonline.com
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