American cancels flights for MD-80 inspections

American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp, again grounded planes and cancelled hundreds of flights to conduct additional safety inspections of its MD-80 aircraft, the airline said.

American said in a statement that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) raised new concerns about recent wiring inspections on the mainly older narrow-body planes that resulted in cancelled flights two weeks ago.

The current and previous inspections stem from an industry-wide FAA review of airline compliance with agency safety directives.

Several carriers have grounded aircraft as a result of the audit, which was triggered by inspection and maintenance lapses at Southwest Airlines Co. and pressure from government watchdogs and congressional investigators to take action.

American said it had cancelled up to 500 flights on Tuesday, more than 20 per cent of its daily mainline services, and additional cancellations were expected.

"We've been working in good faith to ensure that we are in compliance with this airworthiness directive," said Gerard Arpey, AMR's chairman and chief executive.

Mr Arpey apologised to customers for "once again" inconveniencing them.

American operates nearly 300 MD-80 aircraft, about half its overall fleet, mainly on busy routes servicing its Dallas and Chicago hubs.

The case at American relates to a 2006 FAA order to ensure that wiring in MD-80 wheel wells is properly installed and secured.

The FAA said it rechecked a sampling of American's planes in selected locations that were inspected in March as part of the safety audit and found the work on some still did not meet requirements of the original order.

"We will be looking closely over the next several days. We will be checking to make sure that the work has been done correctly," said FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette.