US travel chaos as airline cancels 900 flights

AMERICAN Airlines cancelled more than 900 flights yesterday to fix faulty wiring in hundreds of jets, marking the third straight day of mass groundings as company executives offered profuse apologies and travel vouchers to calm angry customers.

American, the largest carrier in the US, has now cancelled more than 2,400 flights since Tuesday, when federal regulators warned nearly half of its planes could violate a safety regulation designed to prevent fires. That’s more than one in three flights cancelled over the past three days.

Daniel Garton, an executive vice-president of American, said cancellations could extend into the weekend.