American Airlines has had better weekends, to say the least.
On Saturday, a New York Times op/ed described an American Airlines flight from Paris to New York that ended up diverting to Hell. “You, American Airlines, should no longer be flying across the Atlantic,” wrote Gary Shteyngart. Probably the harshest bit on the airline since its bankruptcy woes began nearly a year ago, the piece spread quickly across social media and the web.
Saturday afternoon, American Flight 685 from Boston to Miami diverted to New York-JFK when a row of economy seats aboard the Boeing 757 (N635AA) became loose. No one was injured, but the flight was delayed over four hours and American’s embattled pilot’s union jumped on the opportunity to poke management in the ribs.
Monday brought a shockingly similar incident and cries of sabotage, when Flight 445 from JFK to Miami, also a 757, suffered another seat failure.
In a seemingly unrelated incident, an American flight from Chicago to Dallas made an emergency landing in St. Louis when the First Officer complained of chest pains. He was taken to the hospital after landing, but his condition is not currently known.
