American Airlines Cancels 1,000 Flights for Safety Checks

Fresno, CA The jets were grounded to ensure passenger safety but passengers weren't happy with the inconvenience. At the American Airlines counter people lined up to scramble for the next available flight after two departures and two arrivals were cancelled. A very upset David Daulton has been trying get home to Atlanta. The status of his flight and two alternate flights, cancelled. Daulton said "I talked to American this morning. I've flown over 2 1/1 million miles on this airlines and the bottom line is they don't care about me for a customer."

Tammy Davis also hoped an afternoon flight to Dallas would put her closer to her destination. The Visalia woman said "This is our second cancellation. My friend and I were supposed to fly to Atlanta, leaving this morning."

American Airlines is trying to re-route passengers who missed their connecting flights. Daulton said "What these people don't realize is they're not affecting 50-thousand people. They're actually involving several hundreds of thousands of people because you have to look at all these scenarios."

Local travel agents have been busy these past two days. Agents like Jeri Techman at Travel Express in north Fresno have had to track down dozens of clients to change their itineraries. "We've had some people unable to be accommodated, re-accomodated out of Nashville so they are overnighting. Everybody's stressed out and concerned when their plans change."