American Airlines cancels 500 flights
American Airlines Inc. canceled almost 500 flights Tuesday and will likely cancel more flights Wednesday to conduct additional inspections of its MD-80 fleet to comply with safety directives from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The airline, a unit of Fort Worth-based AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), said the inspections were related to the bundling of wires in the aircraft's wheel wells. American serves Sacramento International Airport. The airline canceled a 2:05 p.m. flight from Sacramento to Dallas, and two arrival flights from Dallas at 5:35 p.m. and 7:40 p.m. Tuesday. An American spokeswoman said it's uncertain how many, if any, flights will be affected Wednesday at Sacramento airport.
"These inspections, based on FAA audits, are related to detailed, technical compliance issues and not safety-of-flight issues," the airline said in a statement.
The airline said it doesn't know exactly how many cancellations will result, but it could be as many as 500 on Tuesday. Additional cancellations are likely Wednesday, it added. The world's largest airline operates about 2,300 daily flights.
"We've been working in good faith to ensure that we are in complete compliance with this airworthiness directive," American chief executive officer Gerard Arpey said. "We regret and apologize that we are once again causing inconvenience to our customers, but we will continue to work in good faith until we satisfy all of the technical issues related to this airworthiness directive 1500 payday loans.
American said it will rebook passengers on other American flights or on flights operated by airlines in the same market.
American canceled hundreds of flights just two weeks ago for safety concerns on its MD-80 aircraft. About 300 aircraft were inspected for faulty wiring on the auxiliary hydraulic systems and 149 needed repairs.
The airline on Tuesday said the FAA raised additional concerns regarding the recent inspection of American's aircraft and the manner in which American followed the engineering change order that had been written for the airworthiness directive related to the wiring in the MD-80's wheel wells. Specifically, some areas of concern included the spacing of the ties on the wiring bundle and the direction in which the retention clips and lacing cords were facing.
American said it has assigned aviation maintenance technicians, quality assurance inspectors, and engineers to inspect the aircraft and ensure full compliance, as well as to make the necessary adjustments.
Any aircraft that does not completely comply with the detailed technical specifications of installation will be removed from service until all specifications have been met. Aircraft will return to service as they have been inspected and all necessary work completed, the company said.
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