Turns out Boeing’s latest lithium troubles are shaking down to the rest of the airline industry. Airbus just announced that it is scrapping plans to outfit its A350 jets with the same secondary batteries that have caused its rival so much trouble.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Airbus has already dropped the lithium-ion cells from its upcoming A350 in favour of less reactive but lower capacity nickle-based batteries. The move comes in response to a spate of recent Boeing troubles including exploding batteries and thermally unstable power cells. [WSJ]