JDiver

Of course. Russia is basically snit-showing over the missiles attack yesterday, and that’s the cause of no Russia overflight - whether Russia is prohibiting US airline overflights or US airlines are taking precautions. We won’t discuss here what belongs in OMNI/PR; the questions are the AA response (see above) and how long this disruption will last.

Uncle Nonny

I've spoken to three agents and have gotten three different responses. It's obvious a fluid situation. Looks like AA 263 tomorrow will be DFW>SEA>PEK for now. Today was probably a mess for those on the flight.

jb2382

I am flying DFW-HKG so will have to make the technical stop in LAX. Will they allow us to get off the plane at LAX to stretch legs, get food, etc.?

Uncle Nonny

I want the segment and the miles

swingaling

What I don't get is why AA is avoiding Russian airspace while UA is not. In fact, UA895 is overflying Siberia en route to HKG as I type this. Presumably AA and UA are privy to the same set of facts, so it's curious that there's a drastically different response here. Especially given the additional time and money AA incurs with a tech stop.

Ha! Good luck.

Alex_I

- Perhaps, UA did not consider a possibility of Russia closing its airspace while the plane is already in flight? Last time when flying from DFW and entering Siberia we still had about 7+ hrs to go to HKG through Mongolia and China.
A more trivial explanation would be a cargo pickup on the way to HKG or PEK - perhaps, AA is also trying to make some additional money.

controller1

In an internal memorandum sent to pilots on Saturday that was seen by CNBC, the airline warned that some flights into Asia could be rerouted, as relations between Moscow and Washington appear to worsen because of the U.S.-led military intervention in Syria.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/14/russ...a-flights.html

b74l

Russian overflight permits are flight-specific but are usually granted for 6 months (for seasonal scheduled flights). As Russia has already condemned the US for Syria attacks, it is very possible that Russia has decided to pull the overfly permission for some US flights. AA’s PEK and HKG flight’s may hv been some that have been temporarily rescinded and it may hv been pure coincidence that this was reported here. DL and UA have more city pairs that could potentially fly over Russia. They too may hv had some flights pulled fm Russia yet no one had reported them (yet).

I really doubt AA would decide to avoid Russia in lieu of recent events. There is nothing unsafe about flying over Russia..esp the regions AA uses. It is just so unfortunate that these political issues spill over to other areas like disrupting commercial flights. Sadly there is little the airlines can do in these cases except to flight plan to avoid said airspace. The excess cost in fuel , time, and disruption to the flight schedule that impacts the bottom line may certainly take its toll.

Rest assured AA is doing all it can to resolve this. But these decisions are so high up the chain in Russia that fixing it is not easy ..assuming the root cause is as I mentioned earlier

percysmith

ashill

b74l

Please let’s be clear..there is no threat ..zero threat..to safety for any flight..US registered or not..to the areas of Russia we are talking about. The FAA/US gov’t prescribes areas of the world that are unsafe for US carriers and prohibits overfly ..areas of Ukraine and Crimea and the Sanai peninsula for example. The airline’s flight dispatchers and threat security and operations all are aware of these issues ..which obviously change fm day to day..hence the dynamic nature of a daily worldwide flight operation and the qualified individuals who decipher this data.

Also ..when flight dispatchers file any flight plan thru Russia..they receive textual confirmation that the flight plan is acceptable hours b4 the flight actually departs. While not totally out of the question, it is very very rare that Russia would deny overflight for a flight that is already enroute. There is no way an airline will fuel plan a flight to avoid say Russia. While nothing is ever out of the question when it comes to say Russia or Iran..out of professional courtesy they will allow flights enroute to overfly. They will usually grant advance notice that overfly is not permitted ..now advance notice may mean a day or several hours..but bottom line is the notification will be done PRIOR to the flight departing ..so alternate plans can be arranged by the airline.

Also ..while not completely unrelated ..is the airline’s relation with the country. United for example has been overflying Russia longer than say American

InTheAirGuy

I love people who have absolute certainty about everything.

http://78.media.tumblr.com/3a37a3302...w9y0o1_500.jpg

https://engtechmag.files.wordpress.c...rash-cause.jpg

b74l

bigsaabowski

Looks like the issue is over. AA263, while on the LAX to PEK segment, was rerouted to go through Russian airspace when it was half way across the Pacific.

None of today’s flights are showing a tech stop.

InTheAirGuy

I'm very well acquainted with both situations. I was just having my coffee this morning and decided to do a devils-advocate post. (-;