Norwegian Airline Parks One of Its Dreamliners: WSJ

September 28, 2013, 1:13 p.m. ET

By JOHN D. STOLL  And JON OSTROWER

The Wall Street Journal

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA is taking one of its two Dreamliner 787 jetliners out of service and demanding Boeing Co. fix the aircraft before returning it to long-haul use, representing the latest wrinkle in a range of mishaps and coming shortly after the airline's management held a crisis meeting with Boeing executives.

"We're not at all satisfied with the performance of the aircraft," Norwegian spokesman Lasse Sandaker-Nielsen said Saturday, one day after the company's Dreamliner had technical problems in Bangkok. "Our customers have been experiencing such heavy delays."

A Boeing spokesman said in an emailed statement it was working "in consultation" with Norwegian to add "a number of enhancements to improve the airplane's in-service reliability" of one of the airline's two 787s. Boeing expects the plane to be out of service for "a matter of days" and regretted the "inconvenience and disruption caused to the airline and its passengers as a result of this process."

In addition to being the jet's manufacturer, Boeing provides the maintenance and spare parts to Norwegian's 787.

The European low-cost carrier, which has leased its two delivered Dreamliners from International Lease Finance Corp., is the first airline to operate its 787s with Boeing handling its maintenance. Airlines traditionally conduct such work themselves or contract to a specialized maintenance provider.

Norwegian is leasing a plane made by Boeing rival Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., to handle long-haul duties while it waits for a fixed Dreamliner.

Mr. Sandaker-Nielsen said Norwegian is prepared to wait as long as it takes for a convincing fix. "The most important thing for us is having [the plane] as reliable as a new aircraft should be. We want Boeing to fix these issues before we enter it into long-term service."

Norwegian's problems with its two new Dreamliners have been well documented. Far beyond the expected issues typically seen with new aircraft, Norwegian has reported major delays and technical issues on multiple occasions.

The troubles were the subject of a meeting between the two companies earlier this week in Oslo. Mr. Sandaker-Nielsen said the decision to take a Dreamliner out of service was made after that meeting and Norwegian still plans to take delivery of six more Dreamliners between November and 2015.

For Norwegian, the Dreamliner purchases were meant to be the cornerstone of ambitious global growth plans.

Norwegian operates two Dreamliners on long-distance routes from Scandinavia to Asia and the U.S., and aims to ramp up its long-haul service. It has had to ground the aircraft several times in recent weeks due to technical issues including hydraulics problems, power-supply issues and indications of malfunctioning brakes. LOT Polish Airlines SA also had to halt flights recently due to technical issues with its Dreamliners, and Qatar Airways has become critical of the aircraft's reliability.

Source:  http://online.wsj.com