American cancels more flights to do more 757 seat work

Seat lock plunger mechanism. Courtesy, AA

American Airlines (AA) expects to have all of its Boeing 757s back in service Saturday after taking additional measures to prevent the seats from becoming loose, necessitating cancellation of nearly 100 flights Thursday and Friday for repair work to be done.

After stating Wednesday that inspections had been completed on the 48 of its 102 757s that use a particular clamp to secure its economy seats to the floor (ATW Daily News, Oct. 4), AA late Thursday said more work had to be done on the 48 aircraft.

“After further analysis by our engineering team, the company is taking additional preventative steps to enhance the locking mechanism features used to secure the seats to the aircraft floor,” AA said in a statement. “American has instructed mechanics to pay particular attention to the seat lock plunger mechanism that secures the seat to the aircraft floor. Mechanics have begun taking steps necessary to ensure that no seat can become dislodged from its track … We continue to work closely with the FAA to resolve this matter.”

In an update late Friday, AA spokesperson Andrea Huguely said, “We have identified the issue, and our maintenance teams are securing an FAA-approved locking mechanism to ensure no seat can be dislodged. As of noon [US central time] today, repairs are complete on 42 of the 48 affected aircraft and the airline is no longer impacted by this process.”

The latest round of cancellations and delays are another blow for AA, which has in recent weeks suffered serious public relations problems as it continues to navigate through Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.