After a three month break from service, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is back in action in America, as United reintroduced revenue service on Monday. The first flight is scheduled to occurr Monday morning from Houston to Chicago. While not exactly the longest flight on the route map, the flight is a symbol that the 787 Dreamliner is back.
The Boeing 787 was grounded several months ago due to a pair of incidents involving the complex lithium-ion battery system in Boston and Japan. “Our customers responded extremely well when we introduced the 787, and we know they’ll welcome it back,” said Pete McDonald, United’s chief operations officer. “Boeing and the FAA were diligent in their work to fix the battery issue, and now the Dreamliner is poised to fly the missions we planned and provide our customers with the features and reliability they want on their long-haul flights.”
“I’ll tell you that it was an expensive piece of architecture for us to have sitting on the ground,” joked Jeff Smisek, United CEO, at a press conference before the flight, adding “we are very sorry for the delay, and safety is out number one priority.”
The reintroduction flight will be operated by N27903, United’s 5th delivered 787.
Sunlight glistening on another @united 787 at #IAH, w/ revenue service set to resume today flic.kr/p/ekQ17a
— Edward Russell (@e_russell) May 20, 2013
