United Airlines is getting its 787s back in the air.
The planes are returning after being grounded for four months by the federal government because of smoldering batteries on 787s owned by other airlines. The incidents included an emergency landing of one plane, and a fire on another.
The incidents never caused any serious injuries. But the January grounding embarrassed Boeing, which makes the 787, and disrupted schedules at the eight airlines that were flying the planes. The company had delivered 50 of the planes worldwide.
The grounding forced United to delay planned international flights and hurt its first-quarter earnings by $11 million. Others, including Japan Airlines and South America's LATAM Airlines Group, also said profits were reduced. LATAM said it still had to make payments on the plane and pay for crews and maintenance. It expects to resume flying soon.
United's first 787 flight was scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday from Houston to Chicago.
Passengers didn't appear to be too worried. "We saw strong demand for the flight from the first weekend it opened for sale," said United spokeswoman Christen David.
