With the US aviation regulatorapproving Boeing's plan to fix the battery-fire problem in theDreamliner fleet, Air India today hoped to resume flights ofthis grounded aircraft by the later part of next month.
As Boeing informed airlines in seven countries, whichhave grounded all the 50 Boeing 787s since January, about theFAA approval, sources said Air India could start operatingthese planes by the last week of April after tests on thelithium ion battery packages are successfully carried out byBoeing.
A technical team from Boeing is expected to visit Indiasoon to help resolving the problem, they said.
The American aircraft manufacturer has developed newbattery kits for the Dreamliners, which were now being testedby the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA wouldtake 3-4 weeks to complete the tests and certify the kit.
Once the kits are certified, these would be supplied tothe airlines in seven countries, including India, by Boeingfor being fitted in their planes.
While it would take about a week for the new battery kitto be installed in each of the six Dreamliners which Air Indiahas, the earliest time by which these planes would again beoperational is April-end, the sources said.
The 50 Dreamliners, which have been delivered so far toairlines in India, Chile, Ethiopia, Japan, Poland, Qatar andthe US, were grounded after two battery-fire incidents inJanuary.
"Our top priority is the integrity of our products andthe safety of the passengers and crews who fly on them,"Boeing chairman Jim McNerney said, announcing FAA approval.
"We've improved design features of the battery to preventfaults from occurring and to isolate any that do," he said.
Design feature improvements for the battery includeaddition of new thermal and electrical insulation materialsand other changes, Boeing said, adding that the enhancedproduction and testing processes include more stringentscreening of battery cells prior to their assembly.