Business

Boeing’s nightmare: Dreamliner on ice

Boeing’s share price continued to tumble last night after the FAA temporarily grounded its 787 dreamliner until the safety of the jet’s lithium-ion batteries can be proved.

Boeing’s share price continued to tumble last night after the FAA temporarily grounded its 787 dreamliner until the safety of the jet’s lithium-ion batteries can be proved. (Reuters)

Boeing’s much-vaunted 787 Dreamliner has been grounded in the US and elsewhere due to concerns that its lithium-ion batteries could burst into flames.

The order yesterday by Federal Aviation Administration came only a day after a harrowing emergency landing of an All Nippon Airways flight of a 787 jet in Japan. ANA and Japan Airlines voluntarily suspended their Dreamliner fleets as a result.

In the US, United Air Lines will see its six 787 jets grounded as a result of the FAA’s temporary order.

The FAA didn’t give a time when it would lift its suspension. It also alerted regulators around the world of the suspension. Other countries were expected to follow the FAA’s lead.

The agency said it would work with Boeing and other airlines on a plan that might allow Boeing 787s to “resume operations as quickly and safely as possible.”

Boeing has hung much of its future on the jetliner.

The 290-passenger, wide-bodied jet is the first to be made almost entirely of composite materials. Boeing CEO James McNerney said in a statement, “We are confident the 787 is safe and we stand behind its overall integrity.”

It weighs much less than a conventional jetliner, making it one of the most fuel-efficient commercial jets ever built. Boeing rolled it out with much fanfare in 2007, and pressed into commercial service in October 2011. It has written 844 orders.

Officials in Japan called the incident “highly serious,” a term often used to imply a significant accident.

Boeing shares fell 2.2 percent in after-hours following the FAA bombshell, to $72.80. The stock already had skidded 3.4 percent during normal trading to $74.34.

With Post wires