American Cancels Additional Flights

After canceling 500 flights on Tuesday and 1,000 flights on Wednesday, American Airlines announced it was canceling 900 flights scheduled for today. All the cancellations involve the MD-80 aircraft and inspecting/repairing bundles of wires in the aircraft. American has now canceled more than one third of all its flights in the past three days.

As of Wednesday evening only 60 aircraft had been cleared for service, leaving almost 240 yet to be cleared to fly. At that rate, AA will not be able to complete the process until Saturday at the earliest.

AA is doing the right thing by providing passengers with travel vouchers of up to $500 to cover food and lodging expenses caused by canceled flights. But there are still some unanswered questions:

1. Why did 90% of the aircraft that were grounded and repaired a few weeks ago fail a new inspection?
2. How large a financial hit is American taking with all of these cancellations and the cost of helping the passengers. Can it afford this huge hit?
   
3. How many passengers, after dealing with so much inconvenience, will decide to take their future air travel business elsewhere? How much will this damage American's business in the months to come?
   

This is a bad week for American.

It May Be Time to Get Nervous

No, I don't mean time to get nervous about whether or not it's safe to take your next flight, it IS safe. It's time to get nervous about whether or not that flight will even be there.

Yesterday American Airlines canceled almost 500 flights for maintenance inspections of the MD-80 aircraft, the same aircraft they grounded two weeks ago for the same inspections. Additional flights will be canceled today for the same inspection. Gerald Arpey, AA's CEO said that the inspections ares due to “detailed technical compliance issues and not safety-of-flight issues.”

The problem is with bundles of wires in the aircraft and how well they are insulated and kept apart from each other. According to CBS news, "an FAA spot check Monday night in Dallas revealed 9 out of 10 American aircraft were not in compliance with airworthiness regulations."

Ninety percent of the aircraft were not in compliance two weeks after AA canceled 300 flights to make sure they were in compliance? Something is wrong here. They either did it wrong the first time, or they did not inspect all aircraft. Safety comes first, so I am glad AA is looking at this issue; what is not clear to me is why they need to do this after grounding so many aircraft two weeks ago. American needs to get this under control and do it properly. Did they miss all these aircraft when they grounded them two weeks ago, or did they inspect them properly at that time?

I am scheduled to fly on the MD-80 in the next two months. I am not the least bit nervous about this from a safety standpoint, I'd get on an MD-80 today. My concern is whether or not my flights will even be there for me to take.

Many other airlines fly the MD-80. I expect the FAA to take a serious look at those too. Several airlines canceled flights (although not as many as AA) two weeks ago to inspect the wire bundles. It will be interesting to see how many cancel flights this week for the same reason.

Let's hope the airlines and the FAA get it right this time.

(for those who missed it, this is the announcement on the AA web site)

American is cancelling several hundred flights starting on April 8 to conduct additional inspections of its MD-80 fleet. These inspections are to ensure precise and complete compliance with the FAA's directive related to wiring in the aircraft's wheel wells. We sincerely regret this inconvenience and are actively working to re-accommodate our affected customers. Please be assured that safety of our customers is, and always will be, American's first priority. For more information about your flight, please check Gates & Times.

American Airlines Cancels Over 300 Flights for Maintenance Inspections

American Airlines canceled 325 flights on Wednesday to conduct maintenance inspections on its MD-80 aircraft.

American Airlines MD-80s at Chicago O'Hare Airport

The Kansas City Star reported that "The grounding of the planes occurred following a joint audit conducted by American and Federal Aviation Administration officials, according to the airline."

Maintenance teams examined the aircraft at the gates to check the distance between two insulated wire bundles. Fortunately, it was not necessary for the aircraft to go to American's maintenance facility for the inspection. Virtually all of the 298 aircraft are expected to be back in service today.

American has an outstanding safety record on the MD-80, an aircraft that entered service in 1980. Every four years, each MD-80 goes to American's maintenance facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma where it is torn apart and rebuilt with the latest equipment. (See the CNBC video below to watch them tear apart an aircraft.)



The MD-80 has been the workhorse of the American fleet. My home airport is Austin, Texas, and the MD-80 is American's most widely used aircraft at this location, offering non-stop service to cities as distant as Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Seattle. However, it is also one of the least fuel efficient aircraft in the fleet, a definite liability in this time of surging fuel costs. American will eventually replace its 298 MD-80s with more fuel efficient aircraft, but until then, they will continue to be the most widely used aircraft in its fleet.