There are rough travel weeks and then there are rough travel weeks. This week is one of the latter for American Airlines flight 108. With a cancellation and two diversions (and eventual cancellation), it’s been a trying time to get from Boston to London.
The first cancellation
The 19 July Boston to London flight was canceled prior to departure due to mechanical reasons. Boeing 777-200ER N766AN was put back into service on the 20th.
The first diversion — Boston-New York
The following day, on 20 July, AA108 departed Boston at 20:30 local time. The crew reported an issue with the aircraft’s landing gear not retracting properly shortly after takeoff. The airline opted to divert the Boeing 777-200ER registration N722AN to New York’s JFK Airport as another aircraft and crew were available to continue the flight to London. The flight touched down in New York at 22:00 local time.
The second diversion — New York-Boston
About three hours after touching down in New York, passengers on AA108 departed for London at 01:26 local time, this time aboard another Boeing 777-200ER registration N784AN. Approximately 45 minutes after departure the crew encountered an issue with one of the aircraft’s engines, necessitating a diversion. This time, the aircraft diverted to Boston, landing at 03:15 local time after burning fuel off the Massachusetts coast.
American’s 777-200ER fleet
American Airlines maintains a fleet of 47 Boeing 777-200ERs, all powered by Rolls Royce Trent 800 engines. The average age of the 777-200ER fleet operated by American is 25 years old.
A long trip to nowhere
Not accounting for the passengers who were scheduled to be on the canceled AA108 from 19 July who were possibly rebooked to the flight on the 20th, passengers spent approximately 3.5 hours in the air and considerably more time inside the aircraft on the ground to fly from Boston to Boston. Hopefully everyone is on their way to London as soon as possible.
What is your most trying travel story? Have you every just called it quits and gone home? Let us know in the comments.
Featured image ©️ Dominic Oakes
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