Boeing's 787 Dreamliners Take Flight Again

A Boeing Dreamliner took off Monday — it was a United Airlines flight from Houston to Chicago. This was the first time the fuel friendly jet was back in U.S. skies in nearly five months. The 787 planes had been grounded since January because of battery problems, which cost United roughly $11 million in revenue.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We'll start NPR's business news with Boeing still dreaming.

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GREENE: Boeing's Dreamliner took off yesterday - it was a United Airlines flight from Houston to Chicago. This was the first time the fuel-friendly jet was back in U.S. skies in nearly five months. The 787 planes had been grounded since January because of battery problems, which cost United roughly $11 million in revenue.

Boeing has since issued a fix for the planes - which are designed with lightweight material to try and save fuel. Yesterday's flight went smoothly. The CEOs from Boeing and United were both on board, riding in coach. United expects to have its entire fleet of 787s back in air this week.

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Riding in coach. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.