TOKYO/LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - Japan's All Nippon Airways
said on Monday it grounded part of its fleet of 787
Dreamliners after tests revealed a risk of engine corrosion, but
Boeing Co, the aircraft's manufacturer, said it does not
expect the timing of deliveries of the jetliner to be affected.
The engines on the ANA planes, Trent 1000s, were supplied by
Rolls-Royce, which said it was replacing a component on a
number of its engines.
ANA, the launch customer for the 787, the world's first
passenger jet built mainly from lightweight carbon fiber, said
the action stemmed from a flawed process that could leave part
of its UK-manufactured engines vulnerable to early corrosion.
The airline grounded five of its 11 Dreamliners, but three
of the twinjet airplanes have been fixed and are flying again.
The other two are waiting for parts from Rolls-Royce and could
be out of action for a few weeks, an ANA spokesman said.
The glitch is the latest disruption to Boeing's flagship jet
as the Chicago-based company recovers from a series of
production delays that have come to typify the latest models
being produced by Boeing and its European rival, Airbus
.
"The extent of the issue with ANA appears relatively minor
at this stage, given that (three) of the aircraft have already
returned to service," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Rob
Stallard in a note on the incident.
Alex Hamilton, managing director with boutique investment
firm EarlyBirdCapital, said he didn't think Boeing share
weakness was tied to the ANA announcement, as the broader market
sold off.
"My guess is the problem is fixable," Hamilton said.
Shares of Rolls-Royce fell 2.7 percent, while Boeing
was down 1.5 percent in afternoon trading in New York. Shares of
General Electric Co, which offers an alternative engine
for the 787, were up nearly 1 percent on Monday, outperforming
the broader market.
The 787 engine problem involves a gearbox supplied by
Hamilton Sundstrand, part of U.S. conglomerate United
Technologies, but for now is contained to one batch.
Two people familiar with the matter said concerns over
corrosion came to light during endurance testing in the UK on
one of the Trent 1000 engines designed by Rolls-Royce.
During the ground test, corrosion was discovered on part of
the gearbox used to drive ancillary systems. Investigators
traced this to a new manufacturing process that was immediately
reversed, the people said, asking not to be named.
Boeing said it was aware of the findings made by Rolls
during engine testing that revealed the corrosion.
"We don't expect timing of any deliveries to be affected by
this," Boeing's Scott Lefeber, a spokesman with 787
Communications, said by email.
"The replacement is expected to be complete in the days
ahead," Boeing added in a statement. "No airplanes will be
delivered with affected parts."
SUSPECT BATCH
Boeing said that currently, All Nippon is the only customer
operating 787s with Rolls-Royce engines.
Of the 859 Dreamliners that have been ordered or delivered
at this point, Rolls-Royce engines have been selected for about
228 planes, while General Electric engines have been chosen for
370 planes, according to Boeing data. Rolls spokesman Richard
Hedges said by email there were 287 firm orders on hand for 787s
with Trent 1000 engines.
"We have seen no such problems with our 787s. But we have
found out that out of the eleven 787s we own, five of them are
carrying those parts," Japan's ANA said in a statement. "For
those five aircraft, we have switched them with other aircraft
and are continuing to operate the flights."
A total of 17 engines contain gear boxes from the same
suspect batch as the one used in the endurance test, eight of
which have been delivered to ANA, industry sources said.
"We have identified that a component on Trent 1000 engines
fitted to Boeing 787 Dreamliners has a reduced service life. As
a proactive measure, this component is being replaced in a
number of engines," a Rolls-Royce spokesman said.
United Tech's Hamilton Sundstrand arm said it was working
with the other aerospace suppliers to solve the problem.
As of end-June, only Japanese carriers were operating the
787 Dreamliner, which entered service with ANA in October.
Japan
Airlines, which has four Boeing 787s in its fleet, uses engines built
by GE and therefore does not face problems similar to those affecting
ANA, said Seiji Takaramoto, a Japan Airlines spokesman.
GLITCHES
The grounding the five Dreamliners by ANA is but one of
several problems with aircraft that have delayed production and
have come to typify flaws in new jetliners made by Boeing and
Airbus.
In November, ANA reported a landing gear problem weeks after
taking delivery of the first $194 million Dreamliner.
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In March, Boeing disclosed delamination or stress in part of
the 787's fuselage, forcing it to repair dozens of jets.
In June, ANA complained that the 787's electronic dimmable
windows were not dark enough for long flights.
A blowout on a different type of Rolls-Royce engine on the
Airbus A380 in November 2010 led to delivery
bottlenecks for the world's largest passenger plane as engineers
swapped dozens of engines on the
production line.
Rolls competes with GE to power both the A380 and the 787
Dreamliner.
