The Dreamliner 787 was meant to be The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)’s savior following the battering it took after the 9/11 attacks that nearly crippled the airline industry. And it is, if they could just get the thing straightened out already. With something as unnatural as flight (for non-birds) it turns out that people don’t enjoy electrical fires from batteries. It’s difficult to call that petty on passengers’ parts, it’s actually quite reasonable. Following that spate of battery issues, the company endured a three month global grounding of Dreamliner flights earlier this year.
Boeing has had a great year stock wise
What’s quite surprising is that The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) has had a great year stock wise. Even the latest news that two flights were forced to turnaround mid-flight within a 24 hour period of time hasn’t bothered investors. In fact, Boeing is trading at $117.30 as of this writing. That signifies a rise of $2.83 per share or 2.49 percent.
Two planes operated by Japan Airlines turned around this week. Now, given that both planes were operated by the same carrier leaves a bit of room to spread the blame around this time. Additionally, conspiracy theorists (idiots) might even suggest that based on JAL’s decision to contract Airbus for its next generation of planes earlier this month, it would offer further reason for Japan Airlines to have a problem with The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA). This, however, is absurd given the amount of Dreamliners that JAL has purchased and will operate for years.
According to a JAL spokesperson, a Tokyo-bound 787 from Moscow was forced to turn around after experiencing issues with the plane’s toilets. Now that sounds petty—what, 141 passengers can’t hold it for the short ten hour flight?
Within hours, another JAL Dreamliner flight bound for Tokyo from San Diego turned back because of a possible problem with its deicing system. While I don’t know what that means, it sounds considerably more serious.
The flight left Lindbergh Field shortly after 1.30pm local time on Wednesday but turned around and landed back in San Diego by 3.10pm, local news reports said.
JAL spokesman Takuya Shimoguchi said the toilet malfunction on the flight from Moscow was most likely caused by an electronic glitch and the plane was being repaired. I once lived in a fraternity house and we had all sorts of toilet problems but I never heard anyone blame the electrical system.
While JAL made news with its choice to look to Airbus, the Australian airline Jetstar took delivery of the country’s first Dreamliner on Wednesday.
