DALLAS (AP) _ American Airlines says it will fight today’s record penalty of $24.2 million over maintenance lapses that caused thousands of canceled flights in April 2008.
The Federal Aviation Administration says Fort Worth-based American failed to take steps to prevent chafing of electrical wires in the wheel wells of its McDonnell Douglas MD-80-series jets.
American has vowed to challenge the proposed penalty. Airlines routinely challenge FAA penalties or negotiate to reduce them.
American spokesman Tim Smith says the events happened more than two years ago and the company believes the FAA action is unwarranted.
American officials have said the dispute is over a minor matter of leaving too much space between clips that held bundles of wire together. Smith says passenger safety was never threatened.
Parent AMR Corp. was the only major U.S. airline company to lose money in the second quarter, and it has lost more than $4 billion since the start of 2008 as it struggled against high fuel costs and a slump in travel.
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