Despite Dreamliner incidents, 23 Boeing 787s airborne at the moment

As the investigation in London is under way over the fire on the Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner at Heathrow yesterday, and despite a separate incident involving a Thomson Airways 787 Dreamliner on the same day, there has been no precautionary grounding of any fleets, and a quick check this afternoon showed there were 23 Boeing 787 Dreamliners in the air from seven carriers.

As of 1:15 p.m. EST, Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner Flight Tracker showed that Ethiopian Airlines had three 787s airborne, with flights from Harare to Addis Ababa, Lome to Rio de Janeiro, and Toronto to Rome. And Thomson Airways had returned to the skies with one 787 flight from London to Orlando, and another from Manchester to Cancun.

Japan Airlines (5), Qatar Airways (4), All Nippon Airways (3), LOT Polish (4), and United Airlines (2) all had flights in the air, and between the seven airlines, including Ethiopian and Thomson Airways, about half of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner fleet was carrying passengers at that moment.

United, the sole carrier with Dreamliners in its fleet, was operating flights from London to Houston, and Tokyo to Denver.

Boeing, which has seen an avalanche in its stock price and market cap since the July 12 incidents, produced its 787 Dreamliner Flight Tracker, with updates every 10 minutes from FlightAware, with the goal of using it as a Dreamliner marketing tool.

Boeing, which saw its Dreamliners grounded globally for several months this year because of battery problems, is in dire need of some positive marketing spin now.

Wtih its flight tracker tool, you can monitor airborne Dreamliner flights in list view, or you an alternately view it in Google Earth.

The cause of the fire onboard the Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner has yet to be determined, and Thomson Airways has been tight-lipped about what was behind the technical problem that led it to return its aircraft as a precautionary measure to Manchester yesterday.

From the looks of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner Flight Tracker, the airlines operating this troubled aircraft are acting as if this is business as usual.

For now, at least.