FORT WORTH , Texas – American Airlines has canceled approximately 200 MD-80 flights on Saturday and plans to be back to a full, normal schedule on Sunday.

By late Friday afternoon, American had re-inspected and put back into service 231 of its 300 MD-80s; most of the remainder of the fleet was expected to be readied for service Friday night. The airline will operate about 75 percent of its MD-80 schedule early Saturday, with all planes in service by late Saturday afternoon.

The airline continues to re-accommodate customers affected by this week’s activity as its maintenance work force conducted the final group of safety inspections. These inspections were necessary to ensure compliance with a Federal Aviation Administration directive related to the bundling of wires in the wheel well of the MD-80 aircraft.

American Airlines apologizes for any inconvenience this activity has created for our customers.

On Friday American Airlines canceled approximately 595 flights. Customers who were scheduled on a flight that was canceled may request a full refund or apply the value of their ticket toward future travel on American Airlines.  Additionally, customers scheduled to travel on any MD-80 flight April 8-13, even if their flight has not been canceled, may rebook without a change fee to any AA flight with availability in the same cabin as long as their travel begins by April 17.

Customers who were inconvenienced with overnight stays should go to AA.com where a link has been established to request information about compensation. Customers also are encouraged to continue to check AA.com or to contact their travel agents for flight status information.