ANA in compensation talks

TOKYO - Agence France-Presse

This file photo shows an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner preparing for a flying display, during the Paris Air Show.

Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) has begun compensation talks with Boeing over losses stemming from its troubled Dreamliner aircraft, a report said on June 27.

The carrier told its annual shareholders meeting that it lost about 12.5 billion yen ($128 million) in sales after Boeing’s next-generation jet was grounded in January over a series of battery glitches.

“We have started negotiations with Boeing about an appropriate amount of compensation,” ANA’s Executive Vice President Kiyoshi Tonomoto told investors, according to the Nikkei business daily.

The comments come about a week after ANA rival Japan Airlines (JAL) said it had started compensation talks with the US aviation giant after being forced to cancel hundreds of flights. JAL said it lost about 3.9 billion because of the problems.

The two airlines, which are the world’s two biggest operators of the planes, have now put their Dreamliner fleets back into service following a four-month suspension as regulators carried out a investigation.

A global grounding order was issued in January after lithium-ion batteries overheated on two different jets, with one of them catching fire while the aircraft was parked.

Boeing has not been able to identify the root cause of the problems, but rolled out modifications it said would ensure they were safe.