American grounds MD-80 fleet

[Andrew C]

We seemed to have not mentioned the abysmal performance of American over the week end having too ground all of their md-80 fleet to do extra checks.

On April 8, 9 and 10, 2008, more than 100,000 people were stranded in airports throughout the United States, including
Chicago-O'Hare Airport. For images of aircraft, see our airplane image gallery.

*American Airlines (AA) grounded its entire fleet of Boeing-manufactured MD-80 aircraft, a total of around 300 planes [source: Aviation]. As a result, as many as 2,500 flights were canceled by the airline [source: CNN]. As the number of stranded passengers began to grow, AA scrambled to make other accommodations for them. Some were packed aboard other air carriers' flights at American's expense. Others were reimbursed for the lodging they'd paid for after being stuck at the airport. Still others were given meals or vouchers for food [source: AA]. At one point at O'Hare Airport, AA ticket agents served waiting passengers juice and cookies [source: NPR].

How can a major Airline do this, I know safety first and agree but what poor management.