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Airlines cancel flights

Travelers wait in line at the Delta Air Lines ticket counter at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Delta canceled hundreds of flights Thursday as the airline continued its inspections of wiring bundles on some of its planes. Associated Press photos (Associated Press photos / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review
Travelers wait in line at the Delta Air Lines ticket counter at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Delta canceled hundreds of flights Thursday as the airline continued its inspections of wiring bundles on some of its planes. Associated Press photos (Associated Press photos / The Spokesman-Review)

DALLAS – American Airlines and Delta Air Lines canceled hundreds more flights Thursday as they continued inspections of wiring bundles on some of their planes.

Although thousands of passengers were inconvenienced over the past two days, analysts downplayed any notion that the cancellations would hurt the airlines financially. They said the costs pale in comparison to fuel prices.

Delta expected to cancel about 275 flights, or about 3 percent of its schedule, before returning to normal operations early today, said spokeswoman Chris Kelly.

American, the nation’s largest airline, canceled 141 flights by mid-afternoon Thursday, or about 6 percent of its estimated 2,300 flights, officials said. The Fort Worth-based airline canceled 318 flights Wednesday.

At American, inspectors from the airline and the Federal Aviation Administration focused on fixing the spacing between cords used to secure bundles of wires in the auxiliary hydraulic systems of its MD-80 aircraft.

“In no way was safety compromised, but the (FAA) directive said ‘Do it this way,”’ said American spokesman Tim Smith.

Smith said American found seats for most passengers on other planes but also put some customers on other airlines’ flights.

The largest number of cancellations, 42, were departures from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, with another 22 departures scrubbed at Chicago O’Hare, Smith said. Delta expected heavy volumes Thursday at its hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Kelly said. Both Delta and the Transportation Security Administration were bringing in extra staff to handle the crowd of travelers, she said.

The inspections came almost three weeks after the FAA ordered a check of maintenance records at all U.S. airlines following criticism of the agency’s handling of missed fuselage inspections at Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co.

The FAA imposed a $10.2 million civil penalty on Southwest this month for missing the inspections and then continuing to fly the planes with passengers on board even after realizing the mistake.