American, Delta cancel flights

AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. canceled a combined 400 flights this morning to reinspect wiring on their Boeing Co. MD-80 model jets.

American, the world's largest carrier, scrubbed 132 flights today, after dropping 318 flights for the same reason yesterday, while Delta halted 275 flights today and tomorrow.

Of the 132, American said this morning it canceled 22 flights at O'Hare International Airport today but it expects to resume normal O'Hare service tomorrow morning. Delta, which has operations at both O'Hare and Midway International Airport, declined to say how many local flights have been cancelled today but said it expects to be returning to its normal schedule by morning.

The cancellations, affecting 5.7 percent of American's primary jet operations and 3 per-cent of Delta's worldwide schedule, come as the Federal Aviation Administration checks whether carriers followed instructions for installing a sleeve over certain wiring bundles in the twin-engine planes.

The FAA proposed a $10.2 million fine against Southwest Airlines Co., the highest ever, earlier this month for flying 46 jets without proper inspections for fuselage cracks.

More Coverage Video Delta Joins AA in Plane Inspections

Delta, the third-largest U.S. airline, is checking all 117 of its MD-88s, spokeswoman Betsy Talton said in an interview. That represents about 20 percent of the Atlanta-based company's fleet. About 70 percent will be back in service later today, and all work is expected to be complete by tomorrow, Talton said.

American is rechecking all 300 of its MD-80s, and at least 80 have needed modifications, spokesman Tim Wagner said. MD-80s make up about 46 percent of Fort Worth, Texas-based American's main jet fleet.

The inspections are to verify a sleeve covering a wire bundle to the auxiliary hydraulic pump is attached to the wheel-well wall at one-inch intervals, the FAA said yesterday.

Four airline fleet related actions in three weeks by the FAA may indicate more inspection-related flight delays ahead, airline analysts said, including American, Delta, Southwest and United.

Wednesday, about 80 flights were canceled at the carrier's Dallas-Fort Worth hub, and about 68 more at O'Hare International Airport. The rest were scattered across the U.S.

The spot inspections by the FAA are considered "very unusual," according to FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory. The spot inspections began March 18 after it cited Southwest for flying 46 jets without proper fuselage checks.

The interim audit of the airline industry is scheduled to end this week but a full audit is expected to last until June 30, ac-cording to the FAA.

Some industry watchers maintain the FAA is applying stricter and more "random" standards lately and airlines are not flying unsafe airplanes.

"The FAA is having a field day nailing airlines," said Mi-chael Boyd, an airline analyst with Evergreen, Colo.-based Boyd Group. "Southwest wasn't safety impaired #8230; This is more about the FAA than it is about safety."

Joseph Schwieterman, a professor of Public Service Management at DePaul University, said the FAA moves indicate increased enforcement of safety rules.

"I think we've entered a new era of maintenance inspections," Schwieterman said. "I think air-lines may also be quicker to pull the trigger (on their own operations). That very well could mean more delays."

Southwest, based in Dallas, temporarily grounded 44 Boe-ing 737s on Saturday until it could verify they had undergone required inspections. The action forced cancellation of 126 flights, about 4 percent of Southwest's daily total.

Chicago-based UAL Corp.'s United said last week it was re-testing instruments on seven Boeing 747s after learning that equipment used for inspections in Korea was overdue to be calibrated. Earlier this week, United's mechanics criticized the carrier for outsourcing too much of its maintenance.

United didn't ground any planes or cancel any flights.

Following the proposed fine against Southwest, the FAA said it would check records at more than 100 airlines by Friday to see how they complied with a sample of 10 agency directives.

Daily Herald Business Writer Michael Sean Comerford contributed to this report.