American Airlines Grounds New Premium-Heavy Boeing 787-9 Due To Serious Maintenance Problems

On April 29 this year, Boeing was due to deliver two special aircraft to American Airlines, according to One Mile At A Time. These aircraft were both Boeing 787-9P models with the registrations N846AN and N845MD. The ‘P’ stands for Premium-Heavy, and this new super-premium configuration began flying on select routes from June 5, with more planned to become available through October. At least, that was the plan. The N846AN aircraft has experienced significant difficulty in completing its scheduled flights due to ongoing maintenance issues.

Thirty examples of the 787-9 in this configuration are due to be delivered to the airline by 2029, and these two particular aircraft were only the first. In the case of N846AN, two of its four scheduled commercial flights have been canceled, and another was delayed by at least 32 hours. The repeated cycle of flight scheduling, cancelation, then maintenance seen with this plane is an indication that a particular issue keeps happening over and over.

More On N846AN’s Flight History

The new premium configuration was unveiled on May 29, according to a report by Aviation Week the following day. For the airline, it was the biggest long-haul cabin update in more than a decade, aimed at competing for international luxury passenger traffic. Initial routes were set to begin on June 5, flying from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR).

On June 4, N846AN was delivered to American, flying from Seattle’s Paine Field International Airport (PAE) to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Following this, the issues began. The plane was scheduled for the repositioning flight AA9783 to enter service at ORD, but it had to return to DFW a little over an hour after taking off. On the following day, the plane was successfully repositioned to ORD, where it would begin its commercial debut as flights AA2012 and AA2321, traveling to LAX and back. These flights were canceled due to maintenance issues.

The next day, the plane was scheduled for the same route and managed to make the outbound flight, albeit with a two-hour delay due to crew availability. However, once at LAX, the scheduled quick 90-minute turnaround turned into a 32-hour delay. With only one of its four scheduled flights being completed successfully, and no further flights scheduled, the aircraft has attracted interest online. JonNYC, a Twitter/Bluesky account that posts airline news, questioned whether it was indicative of a wider problem:

“So, ya’know, […] at a certain point a determination of ‘growing pains’ vs ‘bigger issue than that [lemon emoji]’ becomes a discussion.”

The Likely Cause Of The Problems

According to JonNYC, who claims to have heard about the issue, a problem with the alignment of one of the cabin doors was causing a pressurization issue. While this was reportedly a minor issue, it persisted and has resulted in the grounding of the plane. Further updates speculated that the door seals may have deteriorated from being unused or in storage for a long period of time.

As of today, work on the door seals is apparently complete, according to JonNYC, who said: “Regardless, the work on the door seals is almost complete, and it doesn’t seem that there’s anything else preventing return to service at that point.” Thus, the aircraft may be scheduled for another flight soon, presumably finishing its return flight from LAX back to Chicago. So far, no additional flights have been shown in its Flightradar24 history.

Other sources have reported that the problem with N846AN may stem back to one of the engines, as was tentatively suggested in a summary of the situation by One Mile At A Time. Regardless of the issue, it will be interesting to see whether American manages to keep N846AN in commercial service. If not, the plane may either be sent back to the airline’s main maintenance facility in Dallas for more in-depth work, or even returned to Boeing.

Hopefully, This Lemon Is The Only One

With 28 more 787-9s coming to American Airlines, executives at the airline must be hoping that N846AN is the only one of its kind—a problem child. The companion 787-9P, registered N845MD, was delivered at the same time, and has been in service since then with no obvious issues. This aircraft has completed at least one flight per day since June 5, with no delays of more than an hour, judging from its Flightradar24 history.

With American Airlines hoping to expand the 787-9P routes to include more daily return flights, the Premium-Heavy configuration may still have the chance to impress customers as 2025 rolls on. Below are the planned routes for the roll-out of the Premium-Heavy configuration, per One Mile At A Time:

• From June 5, one daily flight between Chicago (ORD) and Los Angeles (LAX), operating flight AA2012/2321.
• From June 5, one daily flight between Chicago (ORD) and London (LHR), operating flight AA98/91. From July 6, service will increase to three times daily, also operating flights AA86/87 and AA 46/47.
• From August 6, one daily flight between Philadelphia (PHL) and London (LHR), operating flight AA728/737.
• From September 3, one daily flight between Philadelphia (PHL) and Zurich (ZRH), operating flight AA92/93.
• From October 26, one daily flight between Dallas (DFW) and Brisbane (BNE), operating flight AA7/8.

No doubt the airline was hoping that both 787-9P aircraft would be in pristine condition, but accidents do happen. Unfortunately, Boeing has experienced a fair number of manufacturing or maintenance issues in recent years, and every additional example erodes trust in the manufacturer.