2 weeks Ago By Jonathan E. Hendry
Flights in and out of one of the largest airports on the US East Coast stopped for almost an hour this morning due to a fuel issue. Officals at Boston Logan Airport (BOS) confirmed the event lasted just under an hour, with delays extending into this evening. What happened? The news broke via a message from the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Control System Command Center.
The memo cited a "BOS fuel farm outage" as the reason for the ground stop, which began at 10:40 this morning for all flights except those operated by commuter airline Cape Air. The orders are the most restrictive when it comes to air traffic management. The issue was caused by a problem with a valve that required the fuel system to be restarted.
While the stop was initially expected to last until 12:00, the FAA issued a cancellation of the ground stop at 11:32, noting that the fuel systems had been restored. As operations resumed, the FAA issued another advisory for the Mattachuses airport. The second advisory warned pilots that the airport would continue to face delays due to low ceilings through midnight due to weather systems in the area.
According to the agency , the average delay is estimated to be 93 minutes but can reach up to 164 minutes. How many flights did it affect? According to data from FlightAware , 474 flights in and out of Boston were delayed as of press time. An additional 26 flights originally scheduled for today have also been canceled, although not all necessarily because of the fueling issue.
Boston has had an airport since 1923 - gradually expanding to today's international hub. Short-haul flights coming from major US cities on the East Coast were the most severely affected. Twenty flights from Reagan National (DCA) were delayed, representing 60% of scheduled services, while 15 flights from LaGuardia (LGA) were held up, 62% of the total flights today.
Half of the flights to Chicago (ORD) were also delayed, as 11 flights were not able to arrive on time. Get all the latest aviation news right here on Simple Flying. Flights to Nantucket, Martha's Vinyard, and Provincetown were among the 26 flights that were canceled today.
Two flights each to Cape Cod and Rutland/Southern Vermont were also canceled. Among airlines, JetBlue was the most severely affected, with 114 flights delayed, representing 43% of its schedule. Republic Airways, which operates flights for American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, came in second with 83 flights (just over half its schedule from Boston) facing delays.
Delta Air Lines, another significant presence at the airport, saw a quarter of its flights (25) delayed. The airport has several lounges for domestic and international travelers. In terms of cancellations, commuter airline Cape Air was hit the hardest.
The carrier was forced to pull 25 flights or 8% of its schedule. Delta Air Lines was the only other carrier to cancel a flight, with its 11:23 service to Minneapolis/St Paul International not departing as expected. Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today.
It is not all bad news for Boston Airport, thankfully. Boston's 'favorite' carrier, JetBlue, announced it would open a branded lounge at the Massachusetts airport next year!.
