Industry's wake-up call?

AMR Corp.'s American Airlines scrubbed 933 more flights yesterday, adding to 1,550 canceled this week, as it continued aircraft wiring repairs and groundings that have stranded more than 273,000 passengers.

American said it had "no choice" in parking its 300 Boeing MD-80 jets, nearly half its fleet, after the planes again failed to meet a federal safety order. The carrier said it would be canceling 570 flights today and anticipated all of its MD-80s would be back in service late tomorrow.

Complaints by Federal Aviation Administration whistle-blowers that spurred a safety audit at 117 airlines and caused at least four carriers to ground planes sent a wake-up call to regulators and an industry that had grown complacent about maintenance, a former safety official said.

"The airlines and FAA have spent too much time talking about how safe the system is without trying to ensure the continued safety," James Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said in an interview Wednesday. "This is kind of a spanking, and that's certainly better than an accident."

The chaos caused by American Airlines' problems is having little impact on Philadelphia, where the overwhelming majority of flights are operated by US Airways and Southwest Airlines.

Southwest had a problem earlier. But US Airways has canceled no flights, said spokesman Philip Gee, adding: "We have been in complete compliance and, as the audit continues, have no reason to believe we won't be."

American canceled Philadelphia flights yesterday that used MD-80 aircraft, which were built by McDonnell Douglas Corp. before it was acquired in 1997 by the Boeing Co. But no cancellations are shown on American's schedule for today.

Richard Golaszewski, executive vice president of GRA Inc., the Jenkintown firm that provides strategic and economic consulting for the aviation industry, blamed the crisis on "histrionic" behavior in Washington that "is wasting an awful lot of resources on something that probably isn't a real problem."

Because the American problem involved the same FAA office as an earlier inspection issue with Southwest Airlines, "it is going to be a little bit crazy for a little while. They're going to hold carriers to the letter of the law." Both airlines are based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

There are problems that need fixing, Golaszewski said, citing as an example the practice of people leaving the FAA to work for airlines they had been inspecting.

The National Business Travel Association, of Alexandria, Va., which represents corporate-travel managers, said the crisis has delayed or stranded more than 200,000 people.

"It has cost business millions of dollars in lost productivity and missed sales," said spokesman Caleb Tiller. "I've talked to a number of people today who have spent endless hours trying to make sure their people got to where they needed to go."

American's groundings came in response to spot checks by the FAA that found that the world's largest carrier hadn't secured some wiring in accordance with an agency directive.

"It's my fault," chief executive officer Gerard Arpey said in a news conference yesterday. "We failed to fix it."

The MD-80s are safe, and the public can have confidence in American's safety, Arpey said. "I put my kids on these airplanes all the time."

American has hired an outside consultant to review its compliance with FAA directives and is doing its own internal investigation. No changes in maintenance personnel are planned "at this point," said Roger Frizzell, American's vice president of corporate communications.

Midwest Air Group Inc. grounded its 13 MD-80s for inspections and canceled 14 flights yesterday. The carrier hopes to have inspections completed by the end of the day, spokesman Michael Brophy said. MD-80s make up 34 percent of Midwest's fleet.

Alaska Air Group Inc. canceled 11 flights yesterday, on top of 31 dropped since Tuesday night, to continue checks on its nine MD-80s, spokeswoman Caroline Boren said in an interview.

Delta Air Lines Inc. has completed inspections of its 117 MD-88s, which are part of the MD-80 family, spokeswoman Betsy Talton said. The carrier canceled a "handful" of flights yesterday, she said, without being more specific. Twenty of Delta's MD-88s required additional work after the checks, Talton said.