The chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines says it is seeking approval from America’s Federal Aviation Administration and from Boeing to put its grounded Boeing 787s back into service.
Ethiopian Airlines chief executive officer, Tewolde Gebremariam, told agency press that the company expects FAA approval within a few days.
Meanwhile, FAA Administrator, Michael Huerta, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the Chicago plane maker “has completed all required tests and analyses” of battery fixes to its 787 Dreamliner, including providing an extensive set of documents intended to demonstrate their safety.
Mr. Huerta in written testimony told the Senate Commerce Committee that the agency is reviewing Boeing’s submission and will give final approval to put the planes back into commercial service when the agency is satisfied that the redesigned battery system meets FAA requirements.
Without providing a timetable for allowing the planes to resume commercial flights, Mr. Huerta said Boeing and the FAA had negotiated the specific fixes and had agreed on detailed ground and airborne testing procedures to ensure “maintaining the highest levels of safety.” Under the best-case scenario, some airlines that operated 787s have said they anticipated a limited return to passenger service as soon as next month.
After the hearing, Mr. Huerta told reporters he expected the decision to come “very soon,” though he didn’t elaborate.
Mr. Huerta’s testimony came amid growing frustration and concern expressed privately by some senior Boeing executives about what they said was the government’s extended decision-making process.
After a seemingly successful test flight on April 5, Boeing had hoped that the FAA would give a mid-April go-ahead to start helping carriers install the new battery systems. But many Boeing and airline executives now anticipate a delay until the end of the month, if not later.
The final decision is up to Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, who on Monday said it would come “soon,” but suggested that he wouldn’t be rushed.
Senator Jay Rockefeller, the West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate panel, said the redesign of the 787s lithium-ion batteries “is a perfect example of where the regulators identified and acted swiftly to address a serious safety problem.”
But in other testimony Tuesday, the committee heard criticism of the FAA’s overall approach to certifying the safety of new aircraft and cutting-edge technology, such as the 787’s batteries.
The FAA relied heavily on Boeing’s expertise and allowed the company to run all testing before the agency gave the initial green light for the 787 batteries six years ago.
The FAA faces significant budget constraints and other challenges in “maintaining up-to-date knowledge” in its role of approving new equipment, according to prepared testimony from the Government Accountability Office, a congressional watchdog.
Gerald Dillingham, a senior GAO official, reiterated that FAA experts broadly “have not been able to keep pace with industry changes” and, therefore, may face a “struggle to understand the aircraft or equipment they are tasked with certifying.” Those difficulties will grow, according to other experts, as industry activity ramps up, but government spending on certification is unchanged.
Written testimony by the Department of Transportation’s inspector general’s office criticized the FAA for, among other things, failing to ensure the competence of company staff who were designated to certify aircraft or components for the agency. The statement also said that FAA headquarters hadn’t issued “clear, written guidance on how to oversee” choosing such industry employees.
Mr. Huerta for the first time also said that the FAA is reviewing whether the 787 should be permitted to resume flying routes over water that would take it up to three hours from airports suitable for emergency landings. Industry experts generally expect the FAA to reinstate that approval, though Mr. Huerta declined to tell lawmakers his position.
