There are a variety of reasons why a flight might be canceled, whether it’s a mechanical issue, severe weather, or a personnel shortage. Last week, however, a pretty unique mistake forced the cancellation of a flight from Rome to Dallas-Fort Worth.
There were no weather issues, there was nothing mechanically wrong with the aircraft, the crew and pilots were all available to fly, and a plane was there and ready to be flown.
There was one major problem that forced the cancellation of the entire flight: it was the wrong plane.
American Airlines Sent the Wrong Plane to Rome
On Thursday, passengers on American Airlines flight 239 from Rome to Dallas were informed that their Friday flight was canceled a day in advance, with the airline citing “operational reasons” as the reason for the cancellation.
The issue, as Gary Leff of View From the Wing explained, began when American Airlines flight 240 from Dallas to Rome was cancelled on Thursday morning. The airline found another plane to use for the trip, sending a Boeing 787-8 instead of the usual 777 Dreamliner.
Typically, the plane bringing the passengers from Dallas to Rome would be serviced and cleaned and then used on a return flight back to Dallas. However, this was not possible because American sent the wrong plane for the trip.
While there were pilots available in Rome, those pilots are used to flying Boeing 777-200s and aren’t qualified to fly the Boeing 787-8 that arrived in its place. As a result, American had to cancel the Friday flight, leaving hundreds of passengers needing to find another way across the Atlantic.
A Costly Mistake for American
Unless American Airlines was able to get passengers to their final destination within three hours after their scheduled arrival time, the airline is likely going to owe its passengers for the mistake.
As Mateusz Maszczynski wrote for Paddle Your Own Kanoo,American Airlines could face a compensation bill of more than $191,000 for the mistake.
“If American Airlines can get these passengers to their final destination three hours after their scheduled arrival time, then it will be able to avoid paying out compensation under Europe’s EC261 passenger rights regulations,” Mateusz Maszczynski wrote for Paddle Your Own Kanoo.
“If, however, any of these passengers are delayed by three hours or more, then they should be entitled to compensation of €600 (US $700) per passenger. If the flight was fully booked, and everyone was delayed by three hours or more, the total bill to American Airlines would be more than $191,000.”
It’s not clear how many – if any – passengers were able to make it to their final destination within this three-hour window. But those who did not would be eligible for compensation.
Not The First Time American Has Sent the Wrong Plane
While this seems like a rather unique mistake, this is actually not even the first time in the past several months that American Airlines has sent the wrong plane to a major airport. In fact, the last time it happened, the plane was also headed for Italy.
Back in June, American Airlines sent the wrong plane on a flight from Philadelphia to Naples, Italy. Instead of the 787-8 that it typically flies to Naples, American sent a 787-9, which is about 20 feet longer and does not have clearance to land in Naples.
American Airlines seemingly learned this in the middle of the flight as the plane was eventually diverted north to Rome Fiumicino Airport, which is about 70 miles away from the intended destination. Passengers were then transported to Naples by bus.
