Boeing's 787 Dreamliner could become a public relations nightmare for Chicago-based Boeing Co. and some of its airline customers.
Electrical problems and fuel leaks have plagued the new Boeing plane model recently. On Monday, an empty Japan Airlines 787 in Boston caught fire. On Tuesday, a fuel leak forced a different Japan Airlines 787 to cancel takeoff and return to the gate before ultimately completing its trip to Tokyo.
"We're getting to a tipping point, where they go from needing to rectify problems to doing major damage control to the image of the company and the plane," said Richard Aboulafia, a defense and aerospace analyst with Teal Group, a consulting firm based in Fairfax, Va. "While they delivered a large and unexpected number of 787s last year, it's possible that they should have instead focused on identifying glitches and flaws, rather than pushing ahead with volume production."
The fire, in particular, prompted Chicago-based United Airlines — it's the only North American carrier so far to operate 787s — to inspect its six new Boeing 787 airplanes overnight.
United reportedly found improperly installed wires in one plane's auxiliary power unit, the same system involved in the Japan Airlines electrical fire Monday, said The Wall Street Journal, citing an unnamed source.
But United would not confirm that finding.
"We continue to work closely with Boeing on the reliability of our 787s," United spokeswoman Mary Ryan said.
The rash of recent incidents, including those this week and inspections for fuel leaks ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration last month, add to the problems of Boeing, which had already endured criticism for delivering 787s to customers more than three years late because of design and production problems.
Investors were not pleased. Boeing's stock price dropped 2 percent Monday and an additional 2.6 percent Tuesday.
Boeing said in a statement it was premature to discuss details of Monday's fire but "nothing that we've seen in this case indicates a relationship to any previous 787 power system events."
Boeing said it is cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board in investigating the fire, which was discovered when Japan Airlines reported smoke coming from the 787 at Boston's Logan International Airport, where passengers had disembarked and the plane was being cleaned. The fire was traced to the battery used to start the auxiliary power unit.
"Before providing more detail, we will give our technical teams the time they need to do a thorough job and ensure we are dealing with facts, not speculation," Boeing said.
Aviation experts say glitches are to be expected early in an aircraft's life cycle, especially one as revolutionary as the 787. The highly anticipated Dreamliner is touted as offering greater passenger comforts and fuel efficiency, largely because of its construction of light composite materials rather than metals.
"These types of issues are not uncommon," said Timothy O'Neil-Dunne, managing partner of aviation and travel consulting firm T2Impact. "The electrical (systems) on a 787 are incredibly complex." He cited early production problems with other aircraft models, including the Airbus A380, "when they basically had to rewire the whole plane."
"I won't want people to rush to conclusions that the aircraft is not safe," he said. "However, the level of complexity and the early production problems suffered by Boeing … reflects on the company's eagerness to ramp up production to a very fast rate."
Aboulafia said there is no indication the plane itself is flawed.
"It's just a question of how quickly they can get all the onboard technologies right, and whether or not the 787 and Boeing brands will be badly damaged," he said.
Reuters contributed.
gkarp@tribune.com
