American Airlines has announced the cancellation of upwards of 500 flights as they inspect the way a bundle of wires are attached to the MD-80 aircraft. These new inspections stem from FAA concerns about the way American handled the last round of emergency inspections.

From CNNMoney:

“We’re apologetic for the issues this is causing customers, Frizzell said. “In some situations these adjustments will take only 15 minutes.”

American stated it would cancel upwards of 500 flights Tuesday with additional cancellations likely Wednesday. By about 6:00 p.m. ET, American had already cancelled 409 flights, according to FlightStats, an independent flight tracking service.

By comparison to Monday’s total cancellations, FlightStats reported that American scratched only 108 flights on Tuesday for typical reasons.

Second fix. The FAA ordered similar inspections last month that resulted in the cancellation of over 300 American Airlines flights. The FAA raised additional concerns and ordered a new round of inspections Tuesday regarding the manner in which American followed a specific directive in the previous inspections, the airline reported.

American cancels hundreds of flights [CNNMoney]
(Photo:So Cal Metro)

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