More than 18 million seats across 64,000 flights worldwide are expected to be impacted over the next 30 days by a US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) directive requiring inspections of 895 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft after a mid-air plunge from Sydney to Auckland.
The inspections of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts in operation worldwide, follows a March 11 incident involving a sudden mid-air plunge of a LATAM Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 registration CC-BGG, en-route from Sydney Airport (SYD), Australia to Auckland Airport (AKL) in New Zealand, resulting in injuries to over 50 passengers.
Major airlines such as All Nippon Airways, Qatar Airways, American Airlines, United Airlines and Air Europa, among others will face significant challenges, potentially leading to global travel disruptions.
A spokesperson for Qantas Group told Travel Weekly that it is unlikely that Qantas or Jetstar will be impacted by the news.
The FAA announcement implies that inspections and corrective actions should be performed in the potentially loose or non-functional rocker switch caps or switch canover assemblies on the back of the Captain’s and First Officer’s seats of certain Boeing 787-8, -9, and -10 airplanes, currently operating worldwide. This malfunction is allegedly behind five similar reports, two still under investigation.
Mabrian, part of The Data Appeal Company, anticipates the impact of this aircraft recall based on the analysis* of the scheduled flights and seats in programmed routes for the next month, of all Boeing 787 aircrafts affected by the FAA’s Airworthiness Directive (AD), issued on 20 August, 2024.
Data shows that over 64,000 flights, equivalent to slightly more than 18 million seats, could be compromised; and 92% of such flights are scheduled in 787-8 and 787-9 models. In terms of availability, 58% of total seats affected are scheduled in 787-9 aircrafts, and over a third in 787-8 planes.
“This mandatory inspection will not imply to land all planes at the same time, as airlines have 30 days to complete it and fix any malfunction, but it will pose a massive challenge in an already tight (northern) summer and post summer schedule, that could cause delays and cancellations worldwide,” partner and director of marketing and communications at Mabrian, Carlos Cendra, said.
All Nippon and Qatar Airways, the most affected airlines
The air carriers that should have to cushion a larger impact derived from this FAA’s directive will be All Nippon Airways and Qatar Airways as well as Hainan Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines.
Among the list of the airlines that should have to manage their schedules in the next month to attend this mandatory inspection are Asian carriers Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines and China Southern Airlines and key airlines catering to Middle East and Asia long-haul routes, such as Etihad Airways and Turkish Airlines.
Moreover, world carriers that connect America and Europe, in particular, United Airlines, as well as American Airlines, Air Canada, LATAM Airlines and Air Europa will also be forced to re-organize seats and flights in the coming 30 days.
* Sources: Mabrian travel intelligence: seats availability on scheduled flights (one-way) from 20 August to 20 September, 2024 in Boeing 787-8, -9, and -10 airplanes.
