Boeing 787 returns to active duty in the US with flight from Houston to Chicago

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner airplane has officially returned to the skies in the US following an embarrassing and costly battery problem that grounded the company’s flagship plane for most of 2013. United Airlines flight 1 left Houston on time just after 11:00AM CT and is scheduled to land in Chicago at 1:35PM CT. Hopefully for Boeing, this will be the end of the 787’s problems — the FAA lifted the 787 flight ban near the end of April after approving Boeing’s battery redesigns. At the time, Boeing said that the $2.8 million repairs to United’s six 787s would be complete by mid-May, so it looks like everything has gone according to plan so far. While this is the first commercial US flight for the 787 since its grounding, It’s already been several weeks since the 787 returned to the sky for an Ethiopian Airlines commercial flight. While this is a fairly routine flight, we’re sure Boeing is happy to see its flagship airliner back in the skies.