www.CostaRicaTicas.com

BY MARY JANE CREDEUR AND MARY SCHLANGENSTEIN
Bloomberg News

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines canceled a combined 400 flights to reinspect wiring on their Boeing Co. MD-80 model jets. The impact was limited in South Florida.

Delta canceled four departures at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Thursday morning and put its customers on other flights.

American, the world's largest carrier, scrubbed 132 flights Thursday, while Delta halted 275. The moves affect 5.7 percent of American's primary jet operations and 3 percent of Delta's worldwide schedule. Wednesday, American dropped 318 flights for the same reason.

The cancellations come as the Federal Aviation Administration checks maintenance records for compliance with government directives. The FAA proposed a $10.2 million fine, the highest ever, against Southwest Airlines Co. on March 6 for flying 46 jets without proper inspections for fuselage cracks.

''The airlines are very sensitive to this right now, given the issues at Southwest,'' Michael Derchin, a New York-based analyst for FTN Midwest Research Securities Corp., said in an interview. ``They're moving very quickly to take corrective action.''

The checks aim to verify that the carriers properly installed a sleeve covering a wire bundle to an auxiliary hydraulic pump in the twin-engine planes. The sleeve is supposed to be attached to a wheel-well wall at one-inch intervals, the FAA said Wednesday.

Delta, the third-largest U.S. airline, is checking all 117 of its MD-80s, spokeswoman Betsy Talton said in an interview. That represents about 20 percent of the Atlanta-based company's fleet.

About 70 percent of the planes will be back in service later Thursday, and all work is expected to be complete by Friday, Talton said.

American is rechecking all 300 of its MD-80s, and at least 80 have needed modifications, spokesman Tim Wagner said. MD-80s make up about 46 percent of Fort Worth, Texas-based American's main jet fleet.

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_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

ID,
Does this affect their International flights? I think we fly the Airbus 300's out of MIA to SJO. And they're supposed to have everything fixed by tomorrow anyways. I just don't want anything to phuck with my flight next week!

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

Neither Delta or American use MD80's in their San Jose operations.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

The problem is that a lot of us fly into florida to get to SJO and the rest of Latin America.

Oh well, I hope they get this sorted out before next week.

Thats easy to solve live in Costa Rica

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine