Boeing CEO’s tries to reassure employees about 787 future

This week the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and international regulatory agencies temporarily suspended 787 commercial flights in response to two widely reported in-service incidents with the airplane’s batteries that have called into question the safety of the 787 fleet.

As everyone inside the company knows, nothing is more important to us than the safety of the passengers, pilots and crew members who fly aboard Boeing commercial and military aircraft. We also understand the importance of maintaining the confidence of customers and the flying public in the safety of the overall global air transportation system and the Boeing products that operate within it.

We have high confidence in the safety of the 787 and stand squarely behind its integrity as the newest addition to our product family. We are working around the clock to support the FAA, our customers, and others in the investigations, and we’ve committed to make available all Boeing resources to help find answers as quickly as possible. In short, in the days ahead, we will take the steps necessary to assure our customers and their passengers of the 787’s safety and to return the airplanes to service.

Despite the negative news attention over the past several days, I remain tremendously proud of employees across the company for the decade of effort that has gone into designing, developing, building, and delivering the most innovative commercial airplane ever imagined. Since entering service 15 months ago, the 787 fleet has completed 18,000 flights and 50,000 flight hours with eight airlines, carrying more than 1,000,000 passengers safely to destinations around the world. While the 787’s dispatch reliability rate is on par with the best-in-class introduction of the 777, we will not be satisfied until the 787 meets the even higher standard of performance we set for it and promised to our customers.

My confidence in the future of the 787 is underpinned by my trust and confidence in you, the men and women of Boeing who have worked so hard, for so long, to deliver this game-changing new airplane to the world’s airlines. Time and again, you have risen to both the challenges inherent to fundamental innovation, and the day-to-day problem-solving that is part of every new product introduction.

As we learn more about the specific events in question and the plan to return to flight, we will be sure to pass them along to you. Until then, keep up the great work on behalf of our customers and Boeing.