American cancels 850 more flights for safety checks

— -- American Airlines said it canceled 850 flights Wednesday, or more than one-third of its mainline operations.

The move could disrupt travel plans for as many as 85,000 passengers nationwide. It follows 460 flights canceled Tuesday, while it inspected and repaired wiring in the wheel wells of its Boeing MD-80s. The wiring is near the jet's fuel tanks.

The Fort Worth-based airline grounded 300 MD-80s Tuesday after federal regulators found that the wiring work in the planes didn't meet agency standards.

American canceled 280 flights in Dallas-Fort Worth Wednesday, 130 from Chicago in O'Hare, 33 from New York LaGuardia and 28 from St. Louis.

"These cancelations are within our control. It's different than weather cancelations. We're providing hotel and meal vouchers where possible," said American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner.

After grounding the jets Tuesday, the airline placed 30 back in service after inspection and more are expected today, he said.

"The situation is fluid though. We do not know at this point if that number will climb, but it might," he said.

The airline warned that disruptions could continue through Thursday. Wagner said workers were scrambling to help tens of thousands of stranded passengers.

The MD-80s represent nearly half of the airline's fleet and carry about 40% of its passengers. The airline was placing people on alternate flights or on other airlines when possible, he said.

American grounded the same jets briefly at the end of March but sent the planes back into the skies after assuring the Federal Aviation Administration that they had passed inspections. However, FAA inspectors checked 19 of the jets Tuesday in Dallas and Tulsa and found violations on 15, said FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere. The agency did not detail what the inspections found.

The groundings were the latest triggered by a nationwide review ordered after the FAA admitted last month that Southwest Airlines flew jets that hadn't received critical safety checks.