American Airlines Delays/ Cancellations

Melburnian1

Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Posts
24,673
AA9653, the 2005 from HKG to SYD which I assume is the 'demonstration flight' for special viewing in SYD prior to the introduction of regular public transport Transpacific flights by this airline, is running late.

It took off from HKG on Thursday 12 November 2015 at 2049 and should be in SYD in a few minute' time at 0835 or so, half an hour late. Aircraft is B773ER N734AR. Presumably it will receive a water cannon salute.

Whether planned or just sheer coincidence, the aircraft in front of it is QF12's A388 VH-OQB that is a couple of minutes early into SYD ex LAX.
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

AA9653, the 2005 from HKG to SYD which I assume is the 'demonstration flight' for special viewing in SYD prior to the introduction of regular public transport Transpacific flights by this airline, is running late.

It took off from HKG on Thursday 12 November 2015 at 2049 and should be in SYD in a few minute' time at 0835 or so, half an hour late. Aircraft is B773ER N734AR. Presumably it will receive a water cannon salute.

Whether planned or just sheer coincidence, the aircraft in front of it is QF12's A388 VH-OQB that is a couple of minutes early into SYD ex LAX.
In HKG yesterday afternoon, I saw 3 AA 777s parked by the HAECO hangers. I would assume that the AA aircraft arriving from DFW went to SYD and the flight back to DFW was operated by an aircraft returning from maintenance.
 
The Friday 18 December AA73 from LAX to SYD appears to have pulled in at 0725 hours on Sunday 20 December, half an hour early.

However AA72, the 1200 'high noon' departure back to LAX must have struck trouble as it has been cancelled. Perhaps an AFF QF 'codesharer' who was booked on this newbie to Australia operator can fill us all in. As always, I wonder how 250 or more passengers booked in a busy (pre Christmas) period can be found seats on stablemate QF given that it would be surprising if the latter's flights were not booked out or extremely close to that loading.
 
The Friday 18 December AA73 from LAX to SYD appears to have pulled in at 0725 hours on Sunday 20 December, half an hour early.

However AA72, the 1200 'high noon' departure back to LAX must have struck trouble as it has been cancelled. Perhaps an AFF QF 'codesharer' who was booked on this newbie to Australia operator can fill us all in. As always, I wonder how 250 or more passengers booked in a busy (pre Christmas) period can be found seats on stablemate QF given that it would be surprising if the latter's flights were not booked out or extremely close to that loading.

But FA shows AA72 is now en route: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL72
 
AA73, the 2150 hours Wednesday 8 January LAX to SYD is about 45 minutes late on Friday 8 and should arrive at 0840. B773ER N726AN is the craft.
 
AA72 on Friday 15 January departed SYD 53 minutes late at 1253 this afternoon. Arrival is forecast as 0700 in LAX (same day), only 10 minutes late.
 
AA has had a pretty good punctuality record since it began flying to and from Oz but on Friday 19 February, AA73 (B773ER N732AN) will be about 50 minutes late arriving in SYD ex LAX at 0845. Its timetabled departure from LAX was 2150 but it did not take off until 2324 on Wednesday 17.
 
AA72, the 1200 (noon) SYD to LAX (B773ER N724AN) took off at 1259 and hence will be about half an hour late arriving at roughly 0720 hours same day.
 
On Sunday late evening 20 February, AA73 departed LAX at 2343, an hour and 53 late. Tuesday 22 SYD arrival should be at 0950, five minutes shy of two hours late. Hopefully this should not delay the 1200 timetabled departure of the return flight.
 
This may the first really serious delay since AA recently began flights from LAX to SYD: the Wednesday 2 March AA73 (2150 hours ex LAX) departed at the most unusual time of 1302 hours on Thursday 3.

Tonight, Friday 4 March, it is due in SYD at 2250 hours (14 hours 55 minutes late), just before the 2300 hours kickin of the curfew.

Today's AA72, the 1200 SYD - LAX has been deferred until an expected 1400 hours on Saturday. Looks like a crew require sufficient rest in SYD.

If passengers on today's inoperable AA72 are placed instead on flights such as QF11, it would be great to know this as well as what hotel any others who still must travel on the forecast 26 hour late LAX-bound AA flight were placed in, and how passengers got to and from the hotel as well as any vouchers for food or transport doled out.
 
On Easter Saturday (26 April 2016), AA73 from LAX (B773ER N720AN) should arrive in SYD 50 minutes behind time at 0745.
 
Last edited:
Am I the only person sitting here scratching my head at what these threads for multiple airlines are supposed to be about/what value it adds?
 
Flashback, it gives potential travellers (who may be choosing an airline) a picture of how reliable particular routes or airlines tend to be be. For instance, QF's punctuality on its Australia to Japan routes is wonderful: the same could not be said of its London or to some extent its Los Angeles route. SQ's punctuality is among the best, and JQ's at times woeful, the latter even on the incredibly important SYD - MEL - SYD route.

On many routes there is competition so these pages allow passengers to compare and contrast: for instance, flying EK or CI across the Tasman may be a front of mind option or viewed as 'exotic' for first time international travellers (many of whom 'cut their teeth' on a Trans-Tasman trip) but without reference to these pages one might not become aware that generally speaking, the CI flights that come in from TPE have a better punctuality performance than the EK flights ex DXB that are then 'tag flights' across the Tasman.

There have more than 200,000 views of the various flight delays/ cancellations pages. As a moderator suggested some time back, if you don't like these pages, don't read them! Don't assume that every potential flight patron has your huge knowledge of whether airline X or airline Y is a preferable option. Punctuality and relative lack of cancellations is only one thing to consider, but for some, it is one of the more important parameters after the given of safety, as travellers may be on a tight business or even leisure schedule.

Although the official definition of 'late' is 'above 15 minutes', I generally only feature delays of half an hour or more, which cuts out quite a few delays from being featured.

There are some pages on this website that I might scratch my head at - priority boarding discussions is one example. as to me it smacks a bit of the 'do you know who I am?' attitude; whether hot dogs are served in the VA lounges may be another. However, on these types of websites, others have a right to discuss any subject provided the discussion remains civil, does not contravene the law of the land and preferably uses correct English. There is even a 'playground' forum for matters unrelated to aviation. Travellers have different needs, just as individuals differ, so why not respect that?
 
Last edited:
The 2250 hours Monday 28 March AA73 (LAX - SYD) has been altered to depart at a suggested 0035 hours on Tuesday but the QF website claims that this flight with its partial load of hopefully happy QF codesharees will still arrive in SYD on Wednesday 30 March at 0810 hours - on time. This looks an unrealistic claim but time will tell.
 
The Monday 28 March AA73 due ex LAX at 2250 hours for SYD did not depart until 1152 on Tuesday 29, a delay of just over 13 hours. Arrival in the best known Australian harbour city should be at 2010 hours on Wednesday 30 March, in a couple of hours from as I write. This would be exactly 12 hours late.

As a result the Wednesday 30 March AA73 (1200 high noon from SYD to LAX) is forecast to depart at 2230 hours so the race may be on to 'beat curfew', although in theory a 2010 hours arrival gives more than sufficient time to turn any larger passenger plane around.

The Tuesday 29 March AA73 has had its departure ex LAX delayed by 70 minutes to 0000, but is still claimed to be arriving SYD on time at 0810 on Thursday 31 March.
 
Wednesday 30 March 2016 saw AA73 from LAX depart 59 minutes behind time at 2349 but Friday 1 April arrival in SYD is expected at 0820, only 10 minutes late, not an April Fool's Day joke and evidence of just how much time can be made up on these schedules with normal time, not excessive, for takeoff and approach.
 
Am I the only person sitting here scratching my head at what these threads for multiple airlines are supposed to be about/what value it adds?

In the rail world these would be for the Aspergers sufferer with all due respect to them. Anther term is gunzel.

Jul 17, 2010 - Gunzel ( noun, slang Australia): A person who pursues useless and pointless railway enthusiast activities.
 
Back
Top