Thank you Darren.

Thanks for all of your replies,I will know for next time....If i go premium again,not convinced it is worth the extra £££s.

When flying Virgin Premium Economy we have not had either priority disembark or luggage i have even in Manchester had my case nearly last when arriving Business Class on Qatar Airways.

Thomsons first 787 painted with nowhere to go...yet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/microvolt/8406250151/in/photostream/lightbox/

Fingers crossed they can sort the problems as I am booked to hopefully travel on one of these in May.

Me too patch - still not panicking yet - just!
Great picture by the way

Me three... On 23rd, Hope they get it sorted

There is some talk that it might take a year to solve the Nightmareliner problems. I hope it is not true but you never know, it must be 3 years late now.
I think if I was brave enough to fly on this plane I would pop a fire extinguisher in my hand luggage and perhaps a parachute, just in case.
What a mammoth cock up Boeing have made, but at least with the planes being plastic they won't rust while they are parked.

Darren, keep calm I'm joking.

Hi Qman,

Did you hear this through the media?

Regards,
Pat

Darren - feel free to move this into the Dreamliner topic if you feel it's better there.

Pat, nobody knows for sure. The latest news filtering through is that the problem wasn't caused by overcharging so that effectively rules out the software that controls that part of it. It is looking more likely that the batteries themselves have been causing the faults, or rather a chemical build up in individual cells within the batteries. It's also not just the case where they can find a fault in one type of battery and just change it for another - the weights and dimensions just wouldn't fit into the slot like you would by changing a normal low capacity zinc AA battery for an alkaline one.

Boeing and Yuasa (the company that make the batteries) are working flat out for a safe fix. It's not easy and added to that they have the world press looking over their shoulder, waiting for either of them to make a mistake that would make a good juicy headline.

The Thomson planes are still being manufactured and being ground tested. Once the fix is found (and it will be) the priority will be to get the planes already delivered to customers back in the air. Following that will come the fully assembled planes awaiting flight testing - two of which are bound for Thomson. The delay isn't badly affecting the Thomson ones yet, but each day that passes with no answer will have more effect down the line.

Thomson themselves are totally helpless in this situation, and are probably a lot more worried about the possible implications than we are.

Qman,

Can I ask what your source is? The information I get is from the horses mouth so to speak, not internet rumour and I don't hear anything like what you have. While there is no definitive date for a resolution, Thomson Airways aren't currently expecting to delay the introduction of the 787-8's in May. While this may change subject to what happens in the next few weeks or months, there is nothing to suggest its going to take a year. Can we ask if you post such claims, you back it up with a reputable source as your post isn't exactly useful without it.

Darren

I got my information from the professional pilots site, the people on that seem to know a lot of what is going on.
I am not trying to knock Thomson, I like Thomson and always use them for my package holidays.
Presumably the 3 767s which were leaving the fleet will now stay longer. I would think they are nearing their D checks, I wonder who will pay for the extra maintenance, probably Boeing.
I'll say again, the 787s are having far too many problems for my liking. These should have been sorted during test flights. It seems as if the new batteries are not suitable to be in aircraft with their highly flammable nature, I wonder how long it will take to fit different ones.

Not the most reliable of sites to get information from; too many frequent those forums with little knowledge of what they are commenting on. However, an article in the NY Times following a briefing indicates that the investigation will continue until the problem, is resolved. Comment about half way down says that it is going to be grounded for an an indefinite period whether that's two months, four months......
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/business/the-ntsb-sees-lengthy-inquiry-into-787-dreamliner.html?hp
My feeling is that, even when it returns to service, it could be a while before the aircraft receives full etops clearance and, initially, it could well be taking the pretty route to Cancun and Orlando via Greenland.
I think that Thomson will have to make a decision soon as to what they are going to do for the summer season as I expect they will be taking crews off the B767 to retrain on the B787. Retraining to a new type can take two to three months.

Qman,

I would agree with busdriver, PPRUNE (Prosessional Pilots RUMOUR Network) isn't the most relaible of sources and I'd take anything on their with a large pinch of salt given a good proportion of the membership aren't pilots or even professional pilots.

Qman wrote:

Presumably the 3 767s which were leaving the fleet will now stay longer.

There hasn't even been a delay announced yet.

Darren

Hi Darren or anyone else,

I had short listed a couple of holidays Manchester to Cancun flights for December 2013, when I first looked at them the flight was on the Dreamliner it's now just normal flights, should I be reading anything into this.

Cheers

Irene

Irene67,

No, you shouldn't be reading anything in to it at this stage, certainly not for the dates you mention.

Darren

Darren, busdriver has beaten me to the New York Times article. "It means that the 787 is going to be grounded for an indefinite period — whether that’s two months, four months or six months, the 787 is not going to get back in the air soon,” said Scott Hamilton, managing director of the Leeham Company, an aviation consulting firm in Issaquah, Wash."

There are several posts on Pprune saying similar things and how it could take a long while to solve the problem. When they have fixed the batteries you wonder what will go wrong next.
I thought you had said that 3 767s were leaving soon, this is what I have understood, it may have been posted on another site.
Darren can you tell me when the 3 767s which were to leave will be due for the D checks please. I think they are PJLO, DBLA and another one.

Irene67 wrote:

Hi Darren or anyone else,

I had short listed a couple of holidays Manchester to Cancun flights for December 2013, when I first looked at them the flight was on the Dreamliner it's now just normal flights, should I be reading anything into this.

Cheers

Irene

The flights that are on sale still correspond with the brochure, for planned Dreamliner flights.

The other 767 due to leave is OBYD to Arklefly.

Qman,

At this stage, no one, including Boeing, have a timeframe for how long the problem will take to fix. Anyone who is stating a timeframe is just speculating and giving misleading information. Unless you see Boeing alongside the quote, take it with a pinch of salt as it's pure speculation. The information coming from Thomson Airways is at this stage, they do not anticipate a delay but of course this can change depending on how Boeing and their supppliers get on with the problems they're having. There are 3 long haul 767's due to leave the fleet at the end of the current winter season as these were being replaced by 3 787-8's. I can't give maintenance information as this is commercially sensitive.

The latest statement from Boeing.

Darren