Fallout from 787 fires falls in Chicago
Fallout from the grounding of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner fell in Chicago yesterday, where Qatar Airways’ new service launched with just three weekly flights instead of the seven that were originally planned.
Qatar’s CEO Akbar Al Baker said the carrier is looking forward to connecting the Midwest to the Middle East and beyond, and will go daily on June 15.
While the Chicago flights will not use 787s, Qatar has been forced to shuffle its fleet since the FAA grounded the new widebody following two fires in its lithium-ion batteries in January.
Qatar, meanwhile, has signed a code share agreement with American Airlines and this year also begins service to new destinations in Cambodia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and China.
Baker said he hopes the five 787s on order will be back in service by the end of April, and is confident that Boeing has found a fix for the problem that caused the batteries to smoke on one flight in midair and one on the ground.
The airline will seek compensation from Boeing for the delay, which has hurt its Chicago launch, he said.
Cheryl
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