American Airlines Cancels More Than 200 Flights After Regional Carrier Grounded Over Inspection Issue
American Airlines was forced to cancel hundreds of flights on Thursday after one of its regional airlines was temporarily grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The regional carrier, PSA Airlines, which operates American Eagle flights, was grounded over an inspection issue, CNN reported, forcing American Airlines to cancel 230 flights and rebook affected passengers. PSA Airlines flies to 90 airports throughout the United States.
"We are working with PSA and the FAA to immediately address the issue," a representative for American Airlines told the network. "We are working with our customers to arrange new accommodations on other flights and we are working to return the impacted aircraft to service."
The cancellations were due to issues with PSA Airlines' Bombardier CRJ planes, most of which had to be pulled out of service "out of an abundance of caution" to perform a "necessary, standard inspection" of the nose landing-gear doors, according to CNN.
The FAA told CNN the regional airline (known to welcome adorable kangaroos on board) had "voluntarily disclosed" the problems with the aircraft.
"Most of our aircraft have temporarily been removed from service to complete a standard inspection," PSA Airlines said in a tweet on Thursday. "We're working to resolve the issue and sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."
A representative for American Airlines did not immediately respond to Travel+Leisure's request for comment, but the airline tweeted it was "working to accommodate" those affected by the cancellations "as quickly as possible."
It was not immediately clear when the planes would be recertified to fly once again.
The flight cancellations come as the Transportation Security Administration screened fewer passengers at U.S. airports. While holiday travel numbers reached into the million-passenger range, only 750,558 people passed through airports on Thursday, and even fewer — 468,933 — were screened on Tuesday, according to the agency.
Alison Fox is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure. When she's not in New York City, she likes to spend her time at the beach or exploring new destinations and hopes to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram.
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