“Lipstick on a Pig” – same pig, just slightly better looking.

Well its more likely than not if this New York Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/business/faa-sets-terms-for-boeings-battery-fixes-on-787.html?_r=0 is to believed.

It indicates the repair solution has been devised in consultation with the FAA Engineers.
Boeing are not simply putting an stainless steel box around the current battery design with a vent hose and saying its fixed. They are redesigning the whole battery. It will be contained within a Stainless Steel box just like the current NiCad Batteries (which can also go into Thermal Runaway and catch fire), the individual cells will be better insulated should one cell begin to overheat, they are improving the self monitoring of the batteries. The have also been in consultation with the NTSB and willing to make further improvements should they discover any failure types that they them selves have not considered. The NTSB spokesman stated that Boeing were heading in the right direction.
To say that Boeing must wait until the NTSB has finished their report as frankly fairy land talk. There are numerous previous examples of repair schemes and modifications devised and endorsed well before final reports and findings are made. In most system failure accidents and incidents the manufacturers have been at the forefront of redesign of system failures as they are the people who understand their own product far better than anyone else. Read some accident reports and you will often find int the recommendation sections that the manufacturers have already devised and implemented changes. This is the normal process and has been for a long time. Its just because of the new age of online media that the information is more freely available.

I can assure you the airlines will accept the fix, they want the planes to fly just as much as Boeing

-Tank lids?

-Pizza ovens?

-Access hole covers?

-Unique Barbeques?

Senior FAA officials stood up alongside Boeing execs at a press conference after the first 787 battery fire and proclaimed that the 787 was perfectly safe.
A few days later the worlds TV screens showed passengers flying down the emergency slides of another 787 after its battery also overheated.

The FAA now have egg all over their faces and they are not going to let that happen again.
I would be flabbergasted if the FAA approve Boeings so called “permanent-interim” fix – their reputation as a safety regulator is already under heavy scrutiny and they won’t be in any mood to do Boeing any favours.

There is more to this than just a faulty battery.

Another important point that is worth noting regarding Aircraft batteries is the simple fact that the most use and stress they are put under is on the ground. They are very rarely used while the aircraft is flying. So lets put some perspective here. There are say 100 odd complete 787s that have spent a large amount of time on the ground so everyday or so the batteries are subjected to high use and recharge over and over again, they are used to initially power the aircraft and start the APU everytime the aircraft is started up. So they have many hours of reliable use under high load, loads they will virtually never see while the aircraft is in flight as the chances of flying on battery power is ridiculously small. So you cant look at the battery failures in flight in isolation from the very fact they have been used reliably on the ground more than they have been in flight.

I hate to tell you all but this is how aviation works, its a balancing act in risk management. To eliminate all risk would make flying impossible. The FAA, NTSB and Airlines all know this. And once these jets are up and flying again it wont be long until the general public will forget all about it.
If your going to boycott an aircraft type due to a past defect history, you wouldn’t have to dig very deep to find you will never fly again. There are no aircraft that have a perfect history. Although the 777 and A330 where pretty close up until a few years ago.

Three crews of six volunteers — all “very talented mechanics” — will work in three daily shifts. The parts needed have not yet come in, and design changes are expected as the work proceeds, the employee said.

For some reason I have a picture in my head of half a dozen blokes in greasy overalls rummaging around in the scrap bins down the back of the maintenance sheds, firing up the oxy cutter and MIG welder…

For my money, if its a Boeing 787 – I ain’t going!