Boeing says 787 battery retrofits to be done by next week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co is 90 percent finished with retrofits of the battery system on its 787 Dreamliner and should finish the rest by next week, Ray Conner, president of the company's commercial airplane division, told an investor conference on Wednesday.

Conner told the conference that he saw "great momentum" on the 787 program, after overheated batteries prompted a fleetwide grounding earlier this year. Production of the new airliner had reached seven airplanes a month and earlier problems with the supply chain had been resolved, Conner said.

"We are turning the corner," Conner said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)