3 Way Switch: How BA Dealt With A Broken 777 Window Over Christmas

Simple Flying

By Tom Boon

Published Dec 29, 2021

British Airways planes sit at the tamrac of Jose Marti International Airport in Havana waiting for passengers from the British cruise ship MS Braemar before departing to the United Kingdom, on March 18, 2020. - Cuba authorized the British cruise ship MS Braemar, with five confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and more than 1000 people on board, to dock on the island, from where its passengers were repatriated by plane. (Photo by YAMIL LAGE / AFP) (Photo by YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images)

British Airways dealt with a broken windscreen in a creative fashion over the Christmas break, using a three-way Boeing 777 swap. According to reports, things didn't quite go to plan. While Christmas was affected for some, it seems that the swap was eventually successful with all affected passengers and planes making it back to the UK.

Airlines can face a challenge when a complex repair needs to be undertaken away from their home base. Some of the time it is possible to have a local maintenance shop take a look at the issue. This is not always possible, as British Airways discovered right before Christmas.

What was the problem?

As reported by Simon Calder at The Independent, G-YMMB, a British Airways Boeing 777-200ER, was flying from London Gatwick Airport (LGW) to San Jose (SJO) in Costa Rica. According to data from FlightRadar24.com, the flight was already delayed by an hour and a half.

According to Business Standard, a block of ice fell from another aircraft flying around 1,000 feet higher, something that definitely seems like a rare occurrence. This led to the windscreen becoming smashed and thus rendered unable to depart San Jose and return to the carrier's London home.

British Airways, Boeing 777, Smashed Windscreen — Unfortunately, local engineers were not able to fix the problem (not pictured). Photo: Getty Images

A three-way swap

Some airlines have private jets standing by ready to fly parts and engineers to AOG planes, but it seems that British Airways didn't have this option available. In order to get its planes and passengers back to London, the airline engineered a three-way Boeing 777 swap.

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The story started with G-YMME and G-YMMR flying to Montego Bay and Kingston respectively. Due to low load factors, G-YMMR collected returning passengers from Kingston, but rather than returning to London, the plane diverted to Montego Bay to collect the remaining passengers heading from Jamaica to London.

This freed up G-YMME from the obligation of returning to London Gatwick straight away. Instead, the aircraft was ferried over to San Jose as BA9121. Onboard the plane was a replacement windscreen and the engineers to fix it.

The second swap happened in San Jose, though this is where things didn't quite go to plan. It had been intended that G-YMME would drop of the engineers and parts, and then fly stranded passengers straight back to London. The Independent reports that the crew ran out of duty hours, delaying the return flight until December 25th.

In the end, passengers intending to fly from San Jose to London on December 23rd left two days late, arriving in London at 12:02 on December 26th. While it took slightly longer to sort out the broken window on G-YMMB, the aircraft also had a happy ending. Following several days on the ground in San Jose, the aircraft departed on December 26th, arriving back in London on the morning of the 27th.

Have you ever experienced a three-part aircraft swap? Let us know in the comments below!