Fresh chaos for US air passengers
American Airlines has cancelled more than 2,000 flights since Tuesday
The biggest airline in the US has cancelled another 900 flights after
safety concerns forced it to ground 300 of its aircraft, AP news
agency says.
It is the third day of cancellations by American Airlines. More than
2,400 flights have been affected, causing delays for 100,000
passengers.
The action follows an inspectors' warning of problems with wiring
repairs on the MD-80 aircraft two weeks ago.
Other major US carriers have also been forced to ground planes for
inspection.
Southwest, Delta and United are among those affected, and the US
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it could not rule out
further groundings as it widens aircraft safety investigations in the
next two months.
The FAA has been tightening up its inspections since it was discovered
last year that fuselage cracks on Southwest planes had gone undetected
because of missed inspections.
Safety inspections
The US Senate is due to hold its latest set of hearings on airline
maintenance and inspection later on Thursday.
The MD-80 aircraft grounded by American Airlines on Wednesday make up
nearly half of its passenger-carrying fleet.
Chief executive Gerard Arpey has apologised to customers for the
inconvenience.
"American will do whatever it takes to assist those affected by these
flight changes, and our employees are working hard to ensure that we
remain their choice for air travel," he said.
The FAA said it had checked several American MD-80s and decided that
improvement work carried out did not meet its standards.
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