And let's not forget the "if it's not Boeing I'm not" going brigade who laughed at Airbus. They've all gone quite now.
The big problem for Boeing is the pictures of grounded aircraft,the airframes coming out of the plant and the negative publicity.
No Airbus alarm over Boeing's Dreamliners | Video | Reuters.com
Airbus will milk this for what it is worth.
Now let's looks at the worst according to Flight International..
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.
How Boeing can bounce back from Dreamliner problems - CNN.com