American Airlines on Thursday smoothed out some of the customer-service difficulties that plagued the airline this week, but the nation’s largest carrier still canceled 930 of its 2,300 daily mainline flights across the country.
At Denver International Airport, lines to American’s ticket counters were far shorter Thursday than the previous day.
In the morning, blowing snow, low visibility and de-icing requirements led to many delays for all carriers.
Fred and Sharon Crandal of Battle Creek, Mich., arrived at DIA with Shane Snyder, their 10-year-old grandson, early Thursday and found their American flight to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport was canceled. The trio had been vacationing in Winter Park.
Fred Crandal said the American ticket counter was fully staffed, the line moved quickly and they were rebooked to O’Hare on United Airlines with a stop in Des Moines, Iowa.
To soften the inconvenience, the Crandals and Shane, who was still amped about his snowboarding exploits, were given first-class seats for the Des Moines leg.
“I’d give them an A because we’re still getting home the same day, only a few hours later,” Sharon Crandal said.
In a media conference call Thursday, American chairman Gerard Arpey apologized for the disruption to travelers’ plans caused by the carrier’s 2,484 cancellations this week.
“I acknowledge that we have significantly inconvenienced thousands of people,” Arpey said. “I’m profoundly sorry that we’ve gotten ourselves into that situation.”
At DIA, American canceled 17 of 22 scheduled departures Thursday, but today the carrier expects only six cancellations of departing flights, airline spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said. Nationwide, American expects to cancel 570 flights today, she said.
On Tuesday, American grounded its MD-80 fleet because of a dispute with the Federal Aviation Administration over compliance with a 2006 FAA directive to inspect wire bundles in the wheel wells of the jets.
Arpey said after learning of the problem, American applied for an alternate means of compliance but did not receive that approval from the FAA.
American officials said that by tonight they expect to have 210 of the airline’s 300 MD-80s inspected and back in service. By Saturday night, all are expected to be cleared for flying.
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
Kelly Yamanouchi: 303-954-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com
2,484 Flights canceled this week by American Airlines nationwide for jet re-inspections
17 DIA departures affected Thursday; six more Denver flights are to be canceled today
570 Anticipated cancellations nationwide today as American’s MD-80 jets get back into the air
