United Cancels Flights for Safety Checks

The airline calls off 31 of its Boeing 777 flights in order to test the cargo fire-suppression system.
By Ted Reed ,

United Airlines became the latest in a series of U.S. carriers in recent weeks to cancel flights in order to check the safety of a segment of its fleet.

By midday Wednesday, the unit of

UAL

(UAUA)

said it had canceled 31 of its Boeing 777 flights in order to test the cargo fire-suppression system. Of 52 Boeing 777s in the fleet, 14 had been tested and were operating. The carrier flies 84 flights a day on the jets, many on international routes.

United said its own review of maintenance records determined that certain tests had not been performed as scheduled. Spokeswoman Jean Medina said the carrier brought the oversight to the attention of the Federal Aviation Administration and decided to complete the tests as quickly as possible.

She said passengers were not at risk, due to redundancies in the fire suppression system, including the airplane's self-diagnostic systems.

The checks will likely result in flight delays or cancellations, the airline said. Passengers can ascertain the aircraft type assigned to their flights at united.com. Change fees have been waived.

In recent weeks, several major carriers have conducted reinspections of various aircraft types. The checks reflect enhanced auditing of aircraft maintenance records by the FAA, which followed an ongoing Congressional review of a 2007 move by

Southwest

(LUV) - Get Report

to defer fuselage inspections on 46 Boeing 737s. However, Medina said the 777 maintenance review did not result from the enhanced auditing.

Southwest,

Delta

(DAL) - Get Report

and

AMR's

(AMR)

American Airlines have all grounded parts of their fleet in recent weeks to deal with inspections.

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