American Airlines has removed 14 Boeing 737-800s from service after it found issues with the "quality of work conducted" on overhead bins on two aircraft.
All of the aircraft recently underwent retrofits by Aviation Technical Services (ATS) as part of the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier's Oasis project, which adds 12 seats for a total of 172 on American's fleet of 304 737-800s.
"We will perform additional inspection work on these 14 aircraft," says American. "Though the issue did not impact the safety of flight of these aircraft, we are working with our vendor and the FAA to immediately address this issue."
The airline had cancelled roughly 40 flights as a result of the groundings by the end of 7 March. It confirms that the 14 aircraft remain out of service today.
Cirium data and analytics shows that American has cancelled 79 flights and delayed another 114 flights systemwide today.
American has grounded aircraft due to interior issues before. In 2012, it grounded 48 Boeing 757-200s after faulty seat lock plunger mechanisms resulted in some rows of seats coming loose in flight.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
