New York-Tokyo American Airlines Flight Diverts to Texas 12 Hours into Journey

An American Airlines mega diversion saw a Tokyo-bound plane turn around 12 hours into a 14-hour journey, and head back to the U.S. Due to a maintenance issue, the airline decided to divert Flight #AA167 to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Monday, March 31—instead of heading back to New York’s JFK Airport where it took off from. Data from Flight Aware shows that the Boeing 787-9 crossed the whole of the U.S. and was over the North Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Alaska, when the call was made to tell the pilots to turn around and head to Texas. It eventually landed in Tokyo Haneda Airport after another 13-hour flight, on Tuesday. One passenger who said he was on the flight complained on X. “Spent $2500 a person on premium economy from JFK to Tokyo. @AmericanAir diverts us to DFW, reserves us a room in a Super 8 & gives us $12 food vouchers. This is not going to end well,” he wrote. American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.