Airline And Passengers Are Having A Rotten Week

For the third consecutive day, American Airlines scrapped a large chunk of its domestic schedule, due to ongoing inspections to its fleet of aging MD-82 and MD-83 short-haul airliners.

As ANN reported, American first announced the cancellation of over 500 flights Tuesday, when FAA inspectors found needed inspections to wiring bundles in the jets' maingear wells -- checks American said were accomplished two weeks before, when the carrier first cancelled hundreds of MD-80 flights -- still had not been performed.

American said earlier this week it would return the jets to service as quickly as possible... but that hasn't proven to be very fast. The Fort Worth-based airline followed up Tuesday's cancellations with over 1,000 flights scrubbed on Wednesday -- nearly half American's entire daily schedule.

And the work STILL isn't done. CNN reports American scrubbed over 900 more flights Thursday, as work continues to verify the wiring inspections, mandated under a 2006 Airworthiness Directive, were actually done.

"We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our customers," Gerard Arpey, CEO of American parent-company AMR Corp., said this week. "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."

To that end, American has offered displaced passengers ticket refunds, vouchers, and compensation for overnight stays.

With over 300 flying in American livery, the MD-80 -- a catch-all term for the MD-82 and MD-83 narrowbody airliner -- makes up the bulk of the airline's fleet, and handles a substantial majority of the carrier's domestic schedule.

FMI: www.aa.com