Source: Bloomberg -- Read Full Story

American Airlines, the biggest operator of Boeing Co. MD-80 jets, said it had ``no choice'' in grounding almost half its fleet after the planes again failed to meet a U.S. safety order. That decision forced the cancellation of about 1,550 flights over two days, stranded 171,000 passengers and helped send AMR's stock to the biggest drop in a month. American, the world's largest carrier, will scrub 900 more today as it continues another round of inspections. American acted in response to spot checks by the Federal Aviation Administration that found the carrier hadn't secured some wiring in accordance with an FAA directive. Compensating stranded passengers and working on the jets will create ``very significant'' costs, American said, without elaborating.