933 Flight canceled by American, Wreaks havoc

American Airlines canceled over 900 Thursday flights to continue with the re-inspection of the wiring on MD-80 aircrafts and fix the faulty ones. This has taken the toll of total canceled flights to almost 2500 in the past three days.

The inspections are related to a 2006 FAA order to ensure that wiring in the MD-80 wheels is properly installed and the spacing and direction of cords used to secure bundles of wires in the planes' auxiliary hydraulic systems is secured against short circuits.

The airline canceled more than 1,000 flights on Wednesday and 460 flights on Tuesday. The same situation had occurred two weeks ago, after which the airline grounded flights to fix all the problems.

However, this week when Federal Aviation Administration inspected the airplanes, they found that 15 of 19 American jets they examined failed the tests.

So, the American had no option but to ground all 300 of its twin-engine, narrow-body MD-80s, which hold for almost 50% of American's total of 655 planes.

More than 100,000 travelers have been affected by the cancellations, the airline estimates. People are really furious about the last moment cancellations. Many have been stranded in transit at various airports and are demanding compensations from the company.

Airline spokesman Tim Wagner said that about 80 planes had been cleared to fly. Work had been completed on 17 or 18 more planes, but FAA inspectors had not yet signed off on those. The rest of American's 300 MD-80s were in various stages of inspections, Wagner said.

Meanwhile other airlines are also canceling their flights in order to conduct inspections regarding the same. Alaska Airlines canceled 11 more flights early Thursday as it continued to inspect its nine MD-80 jets. The airline had canceled 28 flights on Wednesday and three on Tuesday.

Midwest Airlines also canceled at least 10 flights Thursday as the executives at the airline decided the aircraft should be re-inspected by Midwest personnel even after they have cleared to fly by FAA.

Delta Air Lines voluntarily re-inspected about half of its 117 MD-80s Tuesday night and canceled about 24 flights on Wednesday.

American said that people might have to face trouble for few more days as it expects to resume normal operations by Saturday.

AMR shares were up 2.6% to $9.41 each. On Wednesday, however, the stock plunged more than 11% before closing at $9.17. American said it has granted customers the option of ticket refunds for future travel on the airline.