Everyone in the industry whether designer, manufacturer, operator, pilot or engineer (the list should read t'other way round in my book) knows that batteries are trouble. Chemicals in packages made as light as possible. How many of you remember having to call for the 'tolley-acc' to start the first engine because the a/c batteries were too low on a cold morning? How many of you remember waking in the mornings to the sound of cranking car engines cranked by blithering idiots who only succeeded in waking those of us who wanted or needed to sleep in? I don't remember for sure when I last had a flat battery in an aircraft, boat or car. We take the new reliability for granted.
However, the improvement has come bundled with risk. For the most part the problems are below the pilot, press and passenger radar. The 787 problems are different. They are real, they are documented, I sincerely hope they are not malicious (it'll bite the other side) and they are concerning.
This aircraft is in danger of getting a bad name, like the DC10. We mustn't let that happen if we can help it. It will harm the entire industry. Can someone with connections in both commercial camps get their engineers together to help sort this problem NOW with words of support from Airbus.