On the Etihad flight from Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi that got cancelled!

I had a morning flight from Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi on the Etihad 787 Dreamliner booked through AA.com with points.

It is a really nice plane with those lovely quiet engines.

https://www.etihad.com/en/flights/flights-from-johannesburg-to-abu-dhabi

Boarding the plane:

This was the view from the jet bridge as we were boarding.

Just about to board, unluckily not turning left this time.

Economy class is 3-4-3 seating with about 12 to 15 rows in each section.

Nice thin, modern seats with useful wrap around headrests. Pleasant size tv screens for each passenger.

Popped in to the loo before we even took off so I could photograph it. Standard with the hand soap but with a really large baby fold down shelf.

These are pictures of the on screen map showing where we were, the map to Abu Dhabi and the direction to Mecca to help with prayer time.

The flight and the cancellation:

And this was as far as I got. We all boarded, settled in, and then the pilot said there was a landing gear issue and they were working on it.

There were many steps to this issue. We were on board for more than an hour and a half while they tried various fixes. Even powering off the aircraft and then powering it back on again.

The attempted repair took so long that I almost got through watching a whole movie.

Eventually they said we needed to get off the plane again so that there can be a serious attempt at repairing.

We were all lead to a diner in the airport, told we had R50 for lunch (about $5 in reciprocal value) and were told to wait for updates.

I had a 6 hour layover in Abu Dhabi before my onward flight to London so I was not too worried.

After 3 and a half hours I started to get worried. I went to the gate and told them that I wanted to book a ticket on a BA flight that was taking off that evening and that I would like them to take my bag off the Etihad plane and forward it to the BA plane. I booked the ticket, showed the gate agent the booking and they agreed that they would get the bag off the plane and get it on BA.

That was the start of the 9 day adventure for my bag. First not being on the BA flight, then chasing me to England, being forwarded to me in the US, getting lost from the online report, and then eventually arriving at my door 9 days later. I have written a different post on my lost and then found luggage.

So I boarded the BA flight that evening and flew straight to Heathrow landing about the same time as the Etihad connection was supposed to land.

The Etihad flight from Johannesburg eventually got cancelled because the landing gear issue could not be fixed and everyone had to spend a night in the hotel and then fly the next day.