United Airline resumed the flights of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner today after being grounded for four months due to safety issues related to overheating batteries. The aircraft took off from Houston at around 11:13 this morning and was scheduled to touch down at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago at 1:22 in the afternoon.
Last week, Pete McDonald, chief operations officer of United Airlines, expressed his confidence that the airline customers will welcome the resumption of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights because of the fact they received a positive response when the aircraft was first introduced. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the most advanced and efficient aircraft worldwide.
“Boeing and the FAA were diligent in their work to fix the battery issue, and now the Dreamliner is poised to fly the missions we planned and provide our customers with the features and reliability they want on their long-haul flights,” stated McDonald.
The first United Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight today carried 250 passengers, including the company’s CEO Jeff Misek and James McNerney, Jr., chairman and CEO of The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA). The aircraft is flying under the code UAL1 instead of a traditional flight code.
According to United Airlines, it will resume its Boeing 787 Dreamliner Denver-Tokyo international route on June 10. United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) operates 5,446 flights per day through United Airlines and United Express. It is the first airline company in the United States to acquire six Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts. The batteries of its four Boeing 787 airplanes have been modified and the airliner is ready to resume its operations.
The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) said the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is 20 times more fuel efficient, when compared with other aircraft. The company already modified the batteries of the aircraft after receiving approval from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last month, which led to the resumption of its service and production deliveries.
The FAA approved the installation of the improved battery systems for the Boeing 787 airplanes after an extensive review of certification tests designed to ensure that the individual components of the battery, the integration with systems, and the new enclosure perform as expected during normal operation and under failure conditions.
Earlier this month, The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) rolled out its first factory Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which will be built on an increased production rate of seven aircraft per month. The aircraft was the 114th Boeing 787 Dreamliner manufactured by the company.
The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) said it will achieve its target to build 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners per month by the end of the year. The company has already delivered 50 airplanes to 8 airline operators. It has more than 800 unfilled orders for 58 clients worldwide.
