American Airlines subsidiary’s planes back in the air after it canceled CLT flights

This story was updated on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021.

American Airlines subsidiary PSA Airlines grounded most of its planes Thursday after discovering what the Federal Aviation Administration described as “a maintenance item that required immediate attention.”

PSA Airlines canceled about 230 flights systemwide Thursday — including 182 departures from Charlotte Douglas International and one departure from Raleigh-Durham, according to officials and the flight-tracking website FlightAware.com.

The airlines resumed regular operations on Friday, American Airlines officials said.

“All aircraft inspections are complete, and all aircraft are in place for today’s operation,” according to an AA news release Friday morning. “We expect minimal disruption to passengers today with a small number of planned cancellations and delays.”

That included another 11 PSA Airlines flight cancellations on Friday morning, FlightAware data showed.

The aircraft were voluntarily removed from service to inspect and and re-torque three nuts and bolts on the nose-gear doors, officials said.

“The airline voluntarily disclosed the matter to the FAA, and the agency is working with the airline to address the situation,” the FAA said in a statement Thursday to The Charlotte Observer.

The planes are Bombardier regional jets, according to the FAA. The PSA Airlines website says its fleet includes Bombardier CRJ700 and CRJ900s.

On Twitter Thursday, PSA Airlines said the planes “have temporarily been removed from service” to complete what the airline called “a standard inspection.”

PSA Airlines operates under the American Eagle name and has 130 planes, officials said.

“We’re working to resolve the issue and sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” the airline tweeted.

American Airlines tweeted that it was “working to accommodate” PSA passengers “as quickly as possible.”

In the statement to the Observer on Thursday, American Airlines said PSA removed most of its planes “out of an abundance of caution” to complete “a necessary, standard inspection on the nose gear door.”

“We worked with PSA and the FAA to immediately address the issue,” American Airlines officials said in Friday’s follow-up statement.

Only flights operated by PSA Airlines are affected, officials said, and all other American Eagle flights are continuing to operate.

On Wednesday, a “possible mechanical issue” forced a PSA Airlines flight from Charlotte to Springfield, Missouri, to divert to Knoxville, Tenn., American Airlines spokesman Andrew Trull confirmed to the Observer.

The airlines is not saying what the possible issue involved, but Hull said it was unrelated to the one that caused PSA Airlines to temporarily ground most of its fleet.

The Springfield flight, a CRJ-700 with 32 passengers and four crew members, “landed safely and taxied to the gate under its own power,” according to an American Airlines statement.

No injuries were reported, and another aircraft flew the passengers to Springfield.

“We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans, and we are sorry for the trouble this caused,” AA officials said in the statement.