American Airlines cancels over 900 flights

[Villavic]

Now THIS is something to worry about it
First because MD80s could be a very risky plane to take. I don't remember any precedent as huge as this case, where 900 flights have been canceled

CHICAGO (Reuters) - AMR Corp's American Airlines said it canceled 933 flights on Thursday as it continued to reinspect wiring on MD-80 aircraft, raising the number of flights scratched since Tuesday to nearly 2,500.

The disruption at the No. 1 U.S. airline has wreaked havoc at the nation's busiest airports.

Dallas Fort Worth, American's largest hub, had 269 flights canceled on Thursday. The airline canceled 123 flights at O'Hare airport in Chicago.

American ordered the cancellations to ensure compliance with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety directive. American has about 300 of the twin-engined, narrow-body MD-80s, comprising about half its overall fleet.

The airline canceled more than 1,000 flights on Wednesday and 460 flights on Tuesday. These follow hundreds of AMR cancellations two weeks ago for the same reason.

AMR performed the work two weeks ago, but an FAA review of that effort found some wire bundles were not secured exactly as the directive specified.

[michelle2677]

thank god my london trip wasn't this week. i flew AA and I woulda been a hot bitch.


i'm flying delta to seattle in a few weeks, so hopefully this doesn't get in the way of that.

[wondergirl9847]

I'm VERY nervous because I'm going on an American Airlines flight in 10 days. I pray they get this all situated before then. :(

[danax6]

I'm just surprised that though I've been on an airplane many, many times, I've never actually flown AA before.

Yes, those are the things one thinks about while at work. I went through all the different destinations, flights and airlines in my head. :shocked:

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

I know I'm worrying as I fly out of Terminal 5 when I come to LA in August! They better have got their act together by then!

[Livia]

I have a friend who's an air traffic controller in Dallas, an American Airlines hub. His week's been a nightmare.

When I last flew to Europe, I purposely booked my flights on newer aircraft. But I suppose anything can happen, regardless.

I used to love to fly. Now I have to take a Xanax on my way to the airport.

[JWS]

Still more cancellations. Horrible for the stranded passenges.

I worked for Continental years ago and the whole industry is a net loss. Frontier just announced bankruptcy and three other US airlines have filed for bankruptcy in the past month and ceased operations. (LA Times)

[David]

Is it true these grounded flights are due to FAA requests for something or other?

[petep9000]

Still more cancellations. Horrible for the stranded passenges.

I worked for Continental years ago and the whole industry is a net loss. Frontier just announced bankruptcy and three other US airlines have filed for bankruptcy in the past month and ceased operations. (LA Times)

Someone needs to explain this to me because I'm none too bright. People fly more now than they ever did. There is a HUGE demand for flights in our country, domestic and international. People will pay. And people will be brand-loyal in order to score upgrades or free tickets. So, why are the airlines in turmoil? Why are they going out of business, or going into chapter 11? Why aren't they rolling in money?

If airlines go bankrupt one by one, is there not going to be ANYONE who will be able to serve this huge market here in the US? Has that ever happened in our history, that a huge market goes untapped??? What's the alternative?

[LukeA]

Someone needs to explain this to me because I'm none too bright. People fly more now than they ever did. There is a HUGE demand for flights in our country, domestic and international. People will pay. And people will be brand-loyal in order to score upgrades or free tickets. So, why are the airlines in turmoil? Why are they going out of business, or going into chapter 11? Why aren't they rolling in money?


While it is true that passenger demand continues to rise, so has the cost of jet fuel. This has been a major factor in the recent bankruptcies- especially in ATA's case. That said, airlines go out of business/file for bankruptcy all the time. Just about every major airline has gone through some re-organization project at one time or another in its history.

Its incredibly difficult for an airline to regularly turn profits, and has been for at least 10 years (even longer for the non low-fare "legacy" carriers, like United & American), mainly due to the unions. Southwest (a direct beneficiary of the Federal Airline deregulation act) is just about the only airline that turns a profit every quarter.

[petep9000]

So, is the solution a government take-over of airlines? It sounds like the alternative is that Americans will not be able to fly a domestic carrier.
If the average Joe needs to fly domestically from point a to point b, eventually there will be no airline to fly him? Because it's just not a profitable enterprise? He can fly to Singapore, but he can't fly to Madison WI?

[David]

So, is the solution a government take-over of airlines?Good heavens, no. Returning to a pre-1978 regulatory system with the feds micromanaging routes and services would be lethal. Less airline regulation provides enormous benefits to us consumers (& businesses). Economists at the Brookings Institution and George Mason University estimated in 2000 that consumers save about $19.4 billion a year from lower fares resulting from a competitive marketplace. As one economist put it, airline deregulation democratized air travel in America.

The problems the airlines face now stem not from too little government oversight but from too much. This current fiasco with grounded American flights, for example, is a result of an FAA safety clampdown. The CEO at American said that the airline would not put a plane in service that wasn't safe, irrespective of FAA demands. After deregulation in '78, accident rates (from '79 to '90) were 20 to 45 percent below levels in the decade before deregulation.

See www.econlib.org/LIBRARY/Enc/AirlineDeregulation.html for a revealing article. The most important thing the feds can do with regard to the airlines at this point is to vigorously enforce the antitrust laws.

[JWS]

So, is the solution a government take-over of airlines? It sounds like the alternative is that Americans will not be able to fly a domestic carrier.
If the average Joe needs to fly domestically from point a to point b, eventually there will be no airline to fly him? Because it's just not a profitable enterprise? He can fly to Singapore, but he can't fly to Madison WI?

That's already happening. Many small cities/towns have been dropped. The big legacy carriers like AA, are mainly flying the large markets. The small markets will be served by the "puddle jumpers"

Airlines aren't very scaleable. When demand increases, thay can't quickly add aircraft and gates (and pilots). Likewise when demand drops, they can't reduce much other than eliminate some flights, but they're still paying for the planes and gates. There are also high fixed costs like maintenance facilities.

Btw, there is an aircraft "grave yard" near Mojave, CA. I've seen it. Hundreds of big jets, 747's, etc. sit idle

I think eventually US airlines are headed to some kind of government support like other countries.

[petep9000]

I've heard about that airplane graveyard. It's open to the public? I would have thought all those planes would be a hazard, people would try to climb on them or else homeless people would try to break in and live in them. I'd would love to see it, because I love jumbo jets- they amaze me no end.

How about this. Again, I'm completely naive about this issue and the airline biz here in the US...but what would keep a Chinese or Indian carrier from setting up shop here and offering domestic routes in some clever way? Could we then just 'outsource' our airlines? Or, does the FAA have a lock on that somehow?

[JWS]

I've heard about that airplane graveyard. It's open to the public? I would have thought all those planes would be a hazard, people would try to climb on them or else homeless people would try to break in and live in them. I'd would love to see it, because I love jumbo jets- they amaze me no end.

How about this. Again, I'm completely naive about this issue and the airline biz here in the US...but what would keep a Chinese or Indian carrier from setting up shop here and offering domestic routes in some clever way? Could we then just 'outsource' our airlines? Or, does the FAA have a lock on that somehow?

The grave yard is NOT open to the public. It is secured. Since the area is desert with few trees or structures, the planes are visible off US highway 395 about 100 miles north of LA.

Most countries including the USA prohibit foreign carriers from flying domestic routes. If Qantas, for example, landed in Los Angeles from Sydney and was proceeding on to New York, they couldn't pick up New York bound passengers unless they were going on with Qantas to say, London. (Just an example I don't know if Qantas actually has this route)

[petep9000]

The grave yard is NOT open to the public.

Ow! Big capital letters hurt my ears. Italics are so much kinder (see?), and send the message just as clear.

[bucklind17]

I just flew American to LA and back to NYC this week with zero problems. It seems the majority of flights cancelled out of NYC early this week were to Chicago and Dallas, as mentioned in the article, and I didn't notice any cancelled AA flights out of LA today. It may have something to do with the size of aircraft they fly to specific cities, but it didn't seem like there was too much overflow drama at least at JFK or LAX in the American terminals.

[Villavic]

CNN:
Gerard Arpey, chairman and chief executive of American parent AMR Corp., said the costs of the cancellations to American will run into the tens of millions of dollars -- including vouchers to reimburse stranded customers, overtime for maintenance crews and lost revenue. An analyst with Standard & Poor's estimated that it could easily top $30 million.

Arpey said that neither American's mechanics nor the FAA were to blame for the groundings, and he said he took responsibility for the cancellations. He said the company would hire a consultant to help it comply with FAA safety rules in the future.