Coverage: American Airlines cancels thousands of flights

A computer glitch within PSA Airlines, an American Airlines regional carrier, forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights on Monday and Tuesday at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.

Brian Pascus of Business Insider had the story:

The problem has plagued American Airlines since last week. On Thursday and Friday, about 675 PSA flights were canceled because of a technical issue, it said. An additional 50 flights were canceled on Saturday, and a ground stop was issued until 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Charlotte airport.

The company said in a statement to Business Insider on Tuesday that while it had stabilized its computer systems, it would take time to get back to normal operations.

“The regional carrier, which operates 12 percent of America’s 6,700 daily flights, canceled all flights the morning of Tuesday, June 19th, as it works though schedules, getting aircraft and crews where they need to be to resume operations,” American Airlines said. “PSA will operate a reduced schedule over the next few days as it restores full service.”

It added: “We understand that these cancellations have been frustrating for our customers, and teams from PSA and American have been working around the clock to get things back to normal as quickly as possible.”

Leslie Josephs of CNBC.com reported that the problem isn’t affecting any of American’s other regional operations:

All PSA flights were canceled on Tuesday morning as the airline “works through schedules, getting aircraft and crews where they need to be to resume operations,” American Airlines spokeswoman Katie Cody said in a statement. “PSA will operate a reduced scheduled over the next few days as it restores full service.”

The airline has “stabilized” its computer system, which was operating too slowly to schedule crew members in time for flights, Cody said.

The problem is not affecting any of American’s other regional carriers or its mainline operations, she added.

American’s shares fell 2.2 percent to close at $41.51 on Tuesday, while the NYSE Arca Airline index fell just over 1 percent.

Cassie Cope of the Charlotte Observer reported that there will be a long-term impact:

But the canceled flights will have zero long-term impact on American Airlines, said travel analyst Joe Brancatelli.

“Customers have short memories, and, apparently, that’s what American is banking on,” he said. “You won’t care two months from now.”

That’s because customers either will not have flight options other than PSA or the PSA flight would be cheapest, he said.

United suffered no long-term damage when a passenger was dragged off an overbooked flight last year, he added.

“So if something that appalling doesn’t cost an airline business, why would this?”

Brancatelli criticized American Airlines for not offering travel waivers, which would allow customers to choose other flights.