( CNN ) -- Could it get any worse for Boeing ? Its entire fleet of 787 Dreamliners - the most technologically advanced airliner in the world - has been grounded over the risk of a battery catching fire in flight . That followed a series of incidents in the last few weeks affecting high-profile early customers of its ground-breaking widebody - Japanese airlines ANA and JAL , United Airlines and Qatar Airways . After just over a year in service , and with a backlog of around 800 orders , the Dreamliner programme -- already delayed almost three years before it began flying passengers in late 2011 -- is again in stasis . Carriers forced to withdraw their Dreamliners from service will demand recompense , while others due to take delivery in the next few months will be frantically making alternative plans . Q & A : Dreamliner woes explained . With Boeing vowing to throw all its engineering resources at solving the problem over the next few weeks , it will mean other important projects being sidelined . And while a production line geared to turning out dozens of airliners a year can not be simply be switched off , executives will be wondering whether it makes sense to continue producing aircraft that are currently grounded around the world . Yet , believe it or not , Boeing bosses may be breathing a sigh of relief that things have turned out as well as they have . The U.S. company 's share price has held up , and while the unprecedented grounding of its entire fleet of 50 Dreamliners -- the first time an in-service type has been taken out of action since the late 1970s -- is damaging to Boeing 's image and finances , it may not be catastrophic . Much depends on what the investigators find . The best scenario for Boeing is that the problem -- centered on two powerful lithium-ion polymer batteries -- is isolated . If regulators are convinced that a fix of the way the batteries are built or installed is sufficient -- and that measures are in place to minimize any risks from an overheated battery -- the 787 could be back in service within weeks . The battery that grounded Boeing . A much worse case is that the malaise spreads to the entire electrical architecture of the Dreamliner , forcing a back-to-the-drawing-board rethink of Boeing 's design philosophy . This might take the aircraft out of service for a year or more , and would bring the airframer close to financial meltdown as it battled with a crisis much worse than the delay it experienced getting the 787 to certification . This , however , is extremely unlikely . While Boeing took a gamble in creating an aircraft so dependent on electrical systems and composite aerostructures , it has already gone through the lengthy and painful process of convincing regulators the Dreamliner is safe . That the authorities signed off on an aircraft with such a fundamental design flaw is close to inconceivable . As for the other incidents that have beset the type over the past few months -- a fan shaft failure on an engine , an oil leak , a windshield crack -- all can safely be put down to teething problems . Most new aircraft experience issues of this sort , an inevitable consequence of a test program becoming a production aircraft and the sheer complexity of modern airliner design . 7 elements that make the Dreamliner special . The A380 , the superjumbo from Boeing 's arch-rival Airbus , has had its own travails , both pre-certification , when the whole wiring infrastructure was called into question , and after service-entry when cracks were discovered in wing ribs . It would be astonishing if the 787 's closest competitor , the Airbus A350 XWB , due to go into service next year , does not suffer its own bedding-in challenges . And , indeed , while you might imagine that executives in the French city of Toulouse , where Airbus is based , are relishing their opponent 's travails , that is almost certainly not the case . In an industry rightly obsessed with safety , it is in nobody 's interest to imply -- even subtly -- that another 's product comes with any risk to passengers . Speed , economy , style , range , capacity : all may be product differentiators . But never , never safety . Besides , Airbus too has staked its reputation on lithium-ion technology . The A350 , like the 787 , will use these advanced batteries to power systems such as its auxilliary power unit . As so often in this duopolistic industry , one manufacturer 's technological step-change is followed by its rival . Airbus remains convinced that its lithium-ion battery architecture will deliver operational economies . The grounding of the 787 fleet illustrates not the flaws in Boeing 's industrial culture -- a rush to bring the airliner to market , a degree of over-innovation or a desire to please shareholders by outsourcing too much design and production -- but the rigor of a regulatory regime with a zero tolerance of any mote of imperfection . And , for anyone who flies , that is good to know . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Murdo Morrison .
Boeing 's entire fleet of 787 Dreamliners has been grounded over a battery failure risk . This affects the Dreamliner programme , which has a backlog of about 100 orders . Murdo Morrison says the grounding demonstrates the rigor of aviation regulation . Best case scenario is that the battery problem is fixed , Morrison says .