American Airlines was forced to cancel 230 American Eagles flights as it grounded nearly the entire fleet of its regional offshoot PSA Airlines over maintenance concerns.
PSA temporarily removed most of its aircraft from service and cancelled over 200 flights as it worked with the Federal Aviation Administration to address a maintenance issue on its fleet of Bombardier regional aircraft.
“Out of an abundance of caution, PSA Airlines has temporarily removed most of its aircraft from service in order to complete a necessary, standard inspection on the nose gear door,” a spokeswoman said.
In an email sent to employees, PSA Airlines stated that the issues pertained to 130 of its Bombardier CRJ aircraft.
The FAA said the maintenance issue needed “immediate attention”, and noted the PSA had voluntarily grounded its fleet and informed the FAA of the issue.
The airline has since announced that all 130 inspections have been completed, and as of 30 January, the airline had resumed normal operations.
PSA is one of American Airlines’ largest regional operators, and one of three regional airline subsidiaries owned by the group.
The inspections came as the US saw six-month lows in national travel demand.
Fewer than 500,000 people were screened at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints nationwide on Tuesday, 26 January – the lowest level since 4 July 2020.
For comparison, 26 January 2020 saw 1.7 million people pass through TSA checkpoints.
Meanwhile, Friday, 29 January 2021 saw 774,688 people pass through TSA checkpoints, compared with 2.2 million on the same day last year.
