Alaska Airlines returns seven MD-80s to service

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alaska Airlines said on Thursday that eight of its nine MD-80 aircraft are in compliance with a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness directive related to wire bundling in the aircraft's wheel wells.

Alaska Airlines said seven aircraft have returned to service with work continuing on the eighth. Its remaining MD-80 is undergoing maintenance unrelated to the wire bundling issue.

The airline's parent, Alaska Air Group Inc, canceled 11 flights on Thursday due to wiring inspections of its MD-80 aircraft.

Alaska Air canceled about 14 flights on Wednesday over the same issue, which has also resulted in nearly 2,500 cancellations at American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp, since Tuesday.

(Reporting by Mark McSherry; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)