American quickens pace of work on MD-80s

By John Crawley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American Airlines accelerated inspections and related work on Friday to get its MD-80 planes back in service after a nightmare week for the carrier that saw it cancel more than 3,000 flights over a recurring safety issue, affecting 300,000 travelers.

American, a unit of AMR Corp, said it hoped to have all of its 300 MD-80 aircraft ready to go on Saturday afternoon, with expectations it would run its first full daily schedule in nearly a week on Sunday.

Still, it canceled 200 flights on Saturday after cutting out 595 flights on Friday.

The new timetable for full service was a change from Thursday, when AMR chief executive Gerard Arpey said it could take several days to run inspections and complete related work that has twice failed to satisfy the requirements of a Federal Aviation Administration safety order.

"Something quickened last night," said American spokesman Tim Wagner of the schedule for getting American back on its feet.

Safety experts largely agree the FAA, despite claims it may have overreacted to politically charged assertions of lax oversight, acted prudently in forcing American to ground planes on Tuesday to reinspect and better secure wiring.

The White House also acknowledged the agency's decision- making on safety issues on Friday. Presidential spokesman Scott Stanzel said President George W. Bush has faith in the FAA under acting administrator Robert Sturgell.

"First and foremost we want airline passengers to be safe," Stanzel said. "We have a safe airline transportation system."

Stanzel said Bush will get an update next week at a Cabinet meeting on the state of the airline industry, including safety matters.

WIRES, CLIPS

FAA officials were adamant American deserved what it got for failing to ensure that safety concerns with wiring in the right wheel well of MD-80s was properly addressed. FAA mandated in 2006 that wiring be properly covered and secured to guard against excessive wear, which could trigger electrical shorts and start a fire.

"This is a situation where there is a low risk of an incident, but if there is an incident it has high consequences. You can lose the entire plane. That's why these inspections are important," said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown.

Safety officials have paid closer attention to aircraft wiring since TWA Flight 800 was lost over the Atlantic Ocean in 1996. Investigators believe a wiring short triggered a catastrophic fuel tank explosion.

Peter Goelz, the former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) during that investigation, said investigators found fine metal filings over the years had slipped into the wire bundles and caused dangerous wear, or chafing in the ill-fated Boeing Co 747.

"That surprised investigators and caused real concern," he said.