WASHINGTON — At the same time the government certified Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners as safe, federal rules barred the type of batteries used to power the airliner’s electrical systems from being carried as cargo on passenger planes because of the fire risk. Now the situation is reversed.
Dreamliners worldwide were grounded nearly three weeks ago after lithium-ion batteries that are part of the planes led to a fire in one plane and smoke in a second. But new rules exempt aircraft batteries from the ban on large lithium-ion batteries as cargo on flights by passenger planes.
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"Aircraft makers are also considering retrofitting some planes to replace their batteries with lithium-ion batteries to save weight, according to the airline association. The less a plane weighs, the less fuel it burns. Fuel is the biggest operating expense of most airlines."
I doubt that a battery's weight is a major part of the total aircraft weight. Get real!