American Airlines and Delta Airlines, which canceled hundreds of flights this week in order to inspect wiring bundles on their MD-80 jet aircraft, appear to be getting back to normal nationwide, according to The Associated Press .

And the Albuquerque International Sunport, which had two American Airlines flights canceled this week and one Delta flight scrubbed because of the inspections, is not reporting any inspection-related cancellations today, Sunport spokesman Dan Jiron tells ABQjournal.com.

American Airlines Flight 1814 to Dallas-Fort Worth, scheduled to leave at 11 a.m. today, is reporting a serious departure delay (more than 45 minutes estimated), according to the real-time flight information page on the City of Albuquerque's airport Web site.

But Jiron said it wasn't continued inspections that's causing the delay.

American is cancelling just four flights nationwide, after scrubbing 318 flights on Wednesday and another 141 as of mid-day Thursday, according to the AP.

And Delta Airlines is operating at full capacity nationally, Jiron told us.

9:50am 3/27/08 -- Two ABQ Flights Canceled Today: Inspections scrub Delta's 6:30 a.m. flight to Atlanta, American's 11:50 a.m. to Dallas.

Just two flights out of the Albuquerque International Sunport are being canceled today because of ongoing inspections of MD-80 aircraft by American Airlines, and now Delta Airlines, Sunport spokesman Dan Jiron told ABQjournal.com.

One American Airlines flight from the Sunport, the 4 p.m. to Dallas-Fort worth, was canceled on Wednesday, when the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline grounded 325 flights to inspect wiring bundles on their MD-80 jets, according to Jiron and The Associated Press.

American will cancel another 132 flights today as inspections continue, and Delta Airlines has announced it expects to cancel about 275 flights nationwide today through Friday as it inspects its own MD-80s, according to the AP.

Just one Delta flight out of Albuquerque was canceled today, the 6:30 a.m. to Atlanta, and American will scrub its 11:50 a.m. scheduled flight to Dallas-Fort Worth today, but that should be the extent of it, Jiron told us.

"The impact here has been pretty minimal," said Jiron, who said he believed American would finish its inspections today, while Delta might need a little more time.

The inspections began this week after an audit by a joint team of inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration and American Airlines focused on the proper spacing between two bundles of wires in the MD-80's auxiliary hydraulic system, according to the AP.

Breaking at 1:19pm 3/26/08 -- American Cancels 200 Flights Nationwide: Only one flight out of ABQ — 4 p.m. to Dallas-Fort Worth — is affected so far.

American Airlines canceled about 200 flights today so its crews can inspect some wire bundles aboard its MD-80 aircraft, The Associated Press is reporting.

The cancelled flights represent less than 10 percent of American's scheduled service today, with about 50 departures canceled at the airline's hubs at Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago O'Hare international airports, the AP said.

Just one flight was canceled out of the Albuquerque International Sunport today -- American's 4 p.m. departure for Dallas-Fort Worth, Sunport spokesman Dan Jiron told ABQjournal.com.

Jiron said he didn't know whether there would be other cancellations either today or later.

American has seven to eight flights a day to Dallas and one to Chicago, and all of American's aircraft that fly in and out of Albuquerque are MD-80s, Jiron said.

The inspections appear to be conducted on a rotating basis, according to Jiron. 

"We had a very minimal impact, thankfully," Jiron told us. 

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