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Los Angeles: More than 100,000 air travellers across the US wrestled with flight cancellations, long lines and ruined vacation plans Wednesday as American Airlines again grounded planes for maintenance inspections and said more were coming in the days ahead.
American Airlines cancelled 1,100 flights on Wednesday and expected to scrub at least 900 more flights yesterday while it inspects and makes adjustments to wiring bundles on its fleet of 300 MD-80 aircraft. There have been a string of air travel disruptions caused by maintenance inspections in recent weeks.
The latest cancellations created chaotic conditions at several major airports around the country. Passengers at Los Angeles International Airport complained of jammed phone lines to American ticket agents and a lack of warning from the carrier's computerised travel update system.
"We know we have to fly and we have no say-so," said Ron Ensz, 52, who was trying to return home to Kansas "They tell us to wait in line like cows."
American said the inspections weren't prompted by safety problems, but came in response to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness directives that spell out precise procedures for keeping the nation's airliner fleet in top condition.
Many travellers waiting at Los Angeles Airport said they didn't understand why the airline would inconvenience so many travellers if there wasn't any danger. Kevin Mitchell, head of the Business Travel Coalition, said the repeated maintenance-related cancellations are taking a toll.
"Travellers cannot count on the air travel system as it stands right no."
American Airlines chief executive Gerard Arpey, in Los Angeles to attend a conference of airline executives, apologised "for the inconvenience that we have caused our customers because of the continued inspections of our MD-80s."
"We are doing everything possible to re-accommodate customers on other American Airlines flights or on other airlines. We obviously failed to complete this airworthiness directive to the precise standards that the FAA requires, and I take full responsibility for that."
Many passengers said their biggest complaint wasn't the cancellations, but the lack of advance warning from the airline. Although American said Tuesday it was automatically notifying affected passengers, many said they didn't find out about their travel disruptions until they arrived at the airport.
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