News Backgrounder
Asian carriers back troubled B787
February 1st 2013
As investigators on two continents try to solve the problems of Boeing’s grounded B787 Dreamliners, Asia-Pacific airline chiefs have voiced support for the beleaguered jet.Read More »
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| 'We are not in a situation where we should change the strategy we have been pursuing' |
| Shinichiro Ito President & CEO All Nippon Airways |
The 49 aircraft in service were grounded last month after incidents on board Japan’s two international carriers All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL), involving high technology lithium-ion batteries.
ANA (17) and JAL (6) have almost half of the B787s in service, but both carrier carriers have expressed they still have confidence in the B787. Korean Air (KAL), Thai Airways International (THAI), Singapore Airlines subsidiary, Scoot, and Qantas Airways said they too are standing by the aircraft they ordered. Over 30% of the 848 B787s on order are bound for the Asia-Pacific.
The support was welcomed by the president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Ray Conner. He told Orient Aviation: “We sincerely regret the impact this has had on our customers in Asia and around the world. I can’t stress enough the importance we place on the safety of our passengers and crew members.
“This has and will always be our number one priority. We are working around the clock with the investigating authorities in both the U.S. and Japan to understand the root cause and return the Dreamliner to service. We have devoted an incredibly talented team and resources to assist in this effort.”
It was an emergency landing by an ANA B787 on a January 16 domestic flight, which proved the final straw. An alarm had sounded focusing on the batteries. The incident followed a battery fire on a JAL aircraft parked at Boston’s Logan International Airport on January 7. ANA voluntarily grounded its Dreamliner fleet. JAL quickly followed suit.
In the next 24 hours, regulators in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere followed Japan’s lead, putting the future of some $11 billion worth of the most advanced jet aircraft flying on hold.
ANA’s chief executive, Shinichiro Ito, said the groundings would not impact on the remaining 49 B787s it has on order.
At press time Ito told Orient Aviation: “We are confident that Boeing will respond appropriately to make the 787 a safe aircraft. We will take steps to ensure customers can fly with peace of mind.”
| Catalogue of incidents A string of incidents has led the Dreamliner to be the focus of worldwide attention since it entered service in late 2011. What were initially described as “teething problems” have developed into significant safety issues. On January 8, a JAL B787 aborted its take-off, also from Boston, and returned to the gate because of a fuel leak. On January 11, a cockpit window on an ANA B787 cracked during a domestic flight and a separate ANA B787 suffered an oil leak from one of its engines. On January 13, the JAL aircraft which leaked fuel in Boston, now back in Tokyo, was again found to be leaking fuel during an inspection at Narita International Airport. After ANA’s emergency landing thought to have been caused by a battery overheating, Japan’s transport ministry said it considered the incident “highly serious”. The only other commercial jet using lithium batteries is the A380, but they provide power only for emergency lighting. However, Airbus is planning to make more extensive use of them in its new A350, which will be a direct competitor to the B787. It is not scheduled to enter service until mid-2014. |
JAL chairman, Masaru Onishi, said: “We have given no thought to cancellations.” Speaking to Orient Aviation in Kuala Lumpur where Malaysia Airlines was being welcomed into the oneworld alliance, he added: “It will still be a great plane when the issues are fixed.”
He said JAL had been able to fill the gap with a combination of its spare aircraft, through its joint agreement with American Airlines across the Pacific and with the help of other oneworld members.
It was a similar story elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific. A spokesman for Korean Air, which has 10 of the planes on order, said: “Problems are bound to occur when new aircraft are developed and put into operation. Recent problems involving the B787 are no different.”
THAI has eight B787s on order. Its president, Sorachak Kasemsuwan, said the first aircraft was not due for delivery until the end of 2014, which meant there was plenty of time for Boeing to solve the aircraft’s problems. Scoot, with 20 on order, said it was “confident” Boeing would resolve the issues.
Qantas Airways has 14 B787s on order for its budget subsidiary Jetstar, which are scheduled to start arriving later this year. Chief executive, Alan Joyce, said the airline was in daily contact with Boeing. It always built contingencies around its plans and made sure there was flexibility to deal with any unexpected events, he said. Qantas has purchase rights on 50 additional B787s.
The chairman of China’s Hainan Airlines, Chen Feng, which has 10 Dreamliners on order, said the delays had hampered expansion plans. “Frankly, it’s a little disappointing the aircraft has been delayed so many times. But we still think it’s a good aircraft,” he said.
Three Chinese airlines have firm orders for the Dreamliner. Three of China Southern Airlines’ (CSA) order of 10 B787s are parked on the delivery line awaiting developments. A fourth carrier, Xiamen Airlines, has announced it wants to buy six, but is awaiting its government’s approval.
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| 'We are working around the clock with the investigating authorities in both the U.S. and Japan to understand the root cause' |
| Ray Conner President Boeing Commercial Airplanes |
Nevertheless, as Orient Aviation went to press there was growing concern the grounding could be far longer than anticipated.
Boeing chairman, president and CEO, Jim McNerney, said last month it was “business as usual” on the production lines at Everett, Washington, and North Charleston, South Carolina. Deliveries, however, had been suspended.
“I can’t predict an outcome,” he said. “We don’t have a root cause yet.”
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said late last month that back-up protections in the aircraft’s lithium-ion batteries and electronics systems failed, although the agency had not reached a conclusion on the root cause of the fire that occurred on the JAL aircraft in Boston.
“These events should not happen. As far as design of the aircraft, there are multiple systems to protect against a battery event like this. Those systems did not work as intended … the redundant safety systems installed by Boeing did not work,” said NTSB chairwoman, Deborah Hersman, during a briefing in Washington.
Analysts have suggested the fix could cost anywhere between $350 million and $625 million. That figure does not include the millions of dollars in compensation that will have to be paid to airlines.
ANA said it expects to raise its profitability by more than $110 million annually once its fleet of 55 B787s is in place by 2017. However, because of the grounding, 459 domestic and international flights were cancelled in January, which the ANA Group said would amount to 1.4 billion yen (US$15.4 million) of decreased revenue. Forecasts for the fiscal year remain unchanged.
By mid-February it will have cancelled 838 flights, affecting nearly 83,000 passengers. Nine international routes have been suspended, including flights from Narita to San Jose, California, Seattle and Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, and from Tokyo’s Haneda airport to Frankfurt and Gimpo International Airport in Seoul.
Goldman Sachs estimated the hit to ANA’s annual operating profit could be up to $40 million by the end this month.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) technical experts logged 200,000 hours testing and reviewing the plane’s design before it was certified in August 2011.
Six test planes flew 4,645 hours and Boeing conducted over 1.3 million hours of testing before deciding the lithium-ion batteries were safe to use. The company had to satisfy additional rigorous tests to be granted a “special condition” by the FAA to use the batteries.
| In service In addition to the 24 aircraft with ANA and JAL other carriers with B787s in their fleet are: United Airlines (6), Qatar Airways (5), Air India (5), Ethiopian Airlines (4), LAN Airlines (3) and LOT Polish Airlines (2). |
