In a freak incident on July 20, 2024, two transatlantic flights bound for New York met with the predicament of fuel shortage; one, eventually, was diverted to Boston to refuel. According to flight tracking service Air Live, the incidents involved JetBlue Airways and United Airlines.
JetBlue Flight 1408, operated by an Airbus A321neo (registration N2151J), took off from Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport at 08:55 local time, with John F. Kennedy International in the destination routing box. Barely a year-old plane for just an eight- to nine-hour routine trip, passengers were caught off guard by the announcement of the airline to make an unscheduled diversion to Boston Logan International without offering any explanation.
According to FlightAware data, the plane landed in BOS at 13:22 EDT, which was approximately two hours past its scheduled arrival at JFK. The plane lost no time refueling after that. What is most interesting, however, is that another flight from BOS to JFK took off at 12:24 EDT and landed at 13:07 EDT, just a little before the recorded landing time of the original flight. Air Live shows JB1408 did land in BOS for refueling.
Up to this point, JetBlue has made no statement as to why the aircraft didn’t carry enough fuel to get it to its destination. Speculation is that the two hour en-route delay might have mandated rerouting due to weather conditions or air traffic control decisions.
In a parallel event, United Airlines flight 69, operated by a Boeing 757-200 (registration N33132) with over 26 years and 90,000 hours under its wings, took off from Stockholm Arlanda Airport at 09:32 local time. The eight-and-a-half-hour flight to Newark Liberty International Airport was also planned to stop over at Boston.
United had initially cited a weight and balance restriction as the reason for additional fuel, which would have added 1 hour and 25 minutes to the total travel time. As a surprise turn of events, though, the aircraft skipped the diversion airfield and proceeded directly to EWR, landing at 12:04 EDT, comfortably within its scheduled arrival window.
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How United was willing to eliminate the refueling stop is still a little murky, specifically how the crew could somewhat outclass the weight and balance issues while retaining required fuel reserves.
What has raised eyebrows in the aviation community is the fact that all these events occurred almost simultaneously. The two aircraft were moving on similar routes from Europe to New York State, at about the same time, with preliminary plans for diverting for refueling. Only the JetBlue flight did.
As the industry remains in search of answers, Simple Flying has reached out to both JetBlue and United Airlines for comment on these bizarre incidents. The aviation world is holding its collective breath for an explanation behind the mid-flight fuel challenges and why different outcomes came about for each carrier.