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Delta and American Airlines are playing their "better safe than sorry" cards today after canceling a 133 and 132 flights respectively this morning on MD80 aircraft that were due for wiring inspections, at least 8 of which were domestic flights out of LAX.
Hundreds of passengers hoping to take off were faced with the news that their flights were grounded and that they would need to revise their travel plans. In what is being touted as a preemptive safety move, the airlines seem to be reacting to last month's grounding of several Southwest flights due to missed mechanical inspections, rather than following a standard protocol of scheduled maintenance and check-ups. Had all the aircraft running the 300 American flights that were pulled yesterday and the almost 300 more cut today by American and Delta been scheduled for the inspections it stands to reason they would not all be scheduled to fly. In fact, according to abc7.com, "The inspections come almost three weeks after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a check of all U.S. airlines' maintenance records."
By busting a move meant to cover their asses, the airlines now have hundreds of displaced passengers without seats to put their asses in--many of whom bemoaned being stuck in LA another day. Despite the "safety" mantra, the annoyance factor remains high, while some accept the reality that they'd rather not risk being sorry: "Safer or not, many travelers at LAX were not happy to get the run around, but others say it's worth the headaches."
It's been a headache-filled week for LAX: Runway incidents and toy grenades made headlines.
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