May Use The 787 Initially For Cargo-Only Flights When Operations Resume

All Nippon Airways (ANA) said it plans to start re-training its Dreamliner pilots in June in anticipation of a return of the airplanes to revenue service ... but the pilots may initially fly more cargo than passengers.

The airline said that flying cargo on the airplanes before allowing them to carry passengers would help ease public concerns about the safety of the airplane, according to a report from Reuters. ANA has taken delivery of 17 of the airplanes, and says it has cancelled more than 3,600 flights through the end of May.

The airline plans to start simulator training for its approximately 200 Dreamliner pilots in anticipation of gaining clearance to again fly the aircraft. While the pilots have been undergoing monthly simulator training while the airplanes have been grounded, ANA says the next phase will be specifically geared towards a resumption of revenue flights. Sources indicated that the training is set to begin in mid-April.

Boeing has already sent a several engineers to Japan so that they may begin the process of installing the new battery systems as soon as they are approved. ANA says it may take as long a a month to install the new batteries on each of the airplanes. The airline did not offer any details of what its own flight test schedule would entail.

(ANA Dreamliner image from file)

FMI: www.boeing.com