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American Airlines canceled 500 flights in order to inspect its MD-80 planes. Two weeks ago, American had canceled hundreds of flights for inspections for this issue, but on Monday, the FAA found issues, which American says are "related to detailed, technical compliance issues and not safety-of-flight issues."
The concern is over a bundle of wires in the plane's wheel wells (the landing gear could damage the wires, then affecting the backup hydraulic systems). More cancellations are expected today, and American recommends travelers check their flights before coming to the airport.
As the cancellations occurred yesterday, WCBS 2 found most would-be passengers at Laguardia "were so upset they wanted no part of the media," but a few shared their thoughts. One said, "I don't know why something so critical to safety they don't stay up with. They don't pay attention to it and it makes no sense to me."
Many airlines have canceled flights in order to inspect aging planes, and last month, the NY Times reported there is a growing worry about airplane maintenance, "especially because of the widespread airline outsourcing of maintenance that used to be done in-house."
Update: American canceled 1,000 flights today, about a third of its total daily flights.
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No person in their right mind should be flying out of LaGuardia anyway. That airport is a disaster.
Maybe American Airlines could also work on not delaying flights for no reason at all. They could also work on having enough people working so their planes don't repeatedly sit in their boarding dock for 30 minutes after landing because no one is there to connect the dock.
Big Company wants to make lots and lots of money.
One way to make money is to not spend it on silly things like safety inspections.
But oh yeah, I forgot, government should stay out of Big Company's hair and just let the market regulate them, for when a plane crashes with 400 people on it b/c some wires weren't checked people will stop flying this airline.
This is known as "market correction".
I love capitalism.
The MD-80 is a freaking deathtrap. Anyone remember the horrible Alaska Airlines crash from a few years ago when the tail jammed and the thing fell out of the sky? Not failsafe.
Retire those dinosaurs NOW.
It continually astonishes me how little regard most airlines have for their customers.
1. They shouldn't be flying an old bird that would require this kind of crash maintenance;
2. They should have taken care of these inspections WELL in advance so they didn't have to ground hundreds of flights and inconvenience passengers; and
3. They should have spent extra money to take care of this in a way that didn't screw over so many passengers -- after hours, bringing in more planes, etc.
The crappy compensation these people are getting like payment for meals and hotel fees are the absolute MINIMUM they should be receiving (and more than a lot of passengers get!). They should be getting much more. People choose to fly out of certain airports at certain times for a reason and most of the time PAY to select that flight over others. And a lot of times delay is not just an inconvenience, it means lost money for the passengers and/or lost ability to be at a one-time event -- a business meeting, a wedding, a reunion.
Shame on American and shame on all the other terrible airlines.
Does this affect international flights? Especially Boeing 777s?
JUST with the MD-80's for this bout, but the FAA is clamping down for inspections for ALL aircraft. The Triple 7's are much newer than the MD-80's, but need regular inspections too.
The MD-80 is an old aircraft, and thus needs more frequent inspections than newer aircraft as mandated by the FAA. American Airlines is cheap, as well as reckless for allowing those planes in the air without proper inspections.
Great! I'm really looking forward to my AA flight next week.