British Airways Sued Boston Airport For Hundreds Of Thousands of Dollars After An Airbus A380 Superjumbo Was Badly Damaged

British Airways sued the operator of Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) for hundreds of thousands of dollars after one of its double-deck Airbus A380 superjumbos was badly damaged when a malfunctioning piece of equipment at the airport wiped out electrical systems across the aircraft.

The incident occurred back in June 2022, although the true extent of the issue only came to light after lawyers acting on behalf of the London-based airline filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts Port Authority, which is commonly known as Massport.

Filed three years and one day after the incident that grounded one of BA’s flagship aircraft for several weeks, as extensive repairs were carried out, the lawsuit demanded that Massport and the manufacturer of the faulty ground equipment hand over at least $293,000 to cover BA’s costs and expenses.

The incident involved a nine-year-old Airbus A380 that was delivered new to British Airways in 2016.

The aircraft had been parked for more than a year at the start of the pandemic, but was returned to service in November 2021 as British Airways tried to rebuild its business. By June 2022, the aircraft was once again grounded.

The plane had just operated a scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow to Boston on June 8, 2022, and parked at its assigned gate where it would be plugged into the airport’s power supply to keep critical electrical functions operating while it prepared for its next flight.

At Boston Logan, the power to parked planes is normally supplied through an outlet in the jetbridge, but on June 8, 2022, the power unit on the jetbridge that the British Airways A380 was using was broken.

In these kinds of situations, airports have mobile ground power units, but BA claimed that the GPU that was plugged into the aircraft malfunctioned and significantly damaged multiple electrical systems across the A380.

The damage was so bad that the return flight to London Heathrow had to be immediately canceled, stranding hundreds of passengers and crew in Boston as British Airways scrambled to rebook them onto alternative flights.

It soon became apparent that the fix for this issue would be pretty complex, and to make matters worse, British Airways didn’t have any local maintenance contracts with the right expertise and equipment to repair the damage.

Instead, the plane had to be towed to a remote parking area while electrical components were flown back to London to be assessed and repaired before being sent back to the United States.

Even then, however, the plane couldn’t be put immediately back into service and had to be flown empty back to London before it was eventually returned to commercial service.

Presumably, British Airways had tried to reach an amicable agreement with Massport and the GPU manufacturer before filing the lawsuit. If, however, negotiations on a financial settlement hadn’t been forthcoming before British Airways took legal action, it didn’t take long for the two sides to reach an agreement after the court documents were served.

Last month, British Airways told the court that it had reached an out-of-court settlement with Massport, although exactly how much the airport operator agreed to pay BA remains a closely guarded secret.

British Airways operates a fleet of 12 Airbus A380s, and G-XLEL is one of the airline’s newest. Later this year, the planes are expected to start an extensive head-to-toe refurbishment program, which will feature new seats throughout, including brand new First Class suites and the airline’s latest Business Class suites.

The refitted aircraft will have 12 to 14 First suites, 110 Club World suites, 84 World Traveller seats, and 215 World Traveller seats. The passenger capacity is set to be lower than the current configuration as British Airways introduces a more premium-heavy layout.

The first aircraft with the new configuration is not, however, due to re-enter service until mid-2026, and that’s only if the delivery timeline sticks – which is never guaranteed.