WASHINGTON, April 11 (Xinhua) -- American Airlines, the largest U.S. air carrier, canceled 570 more flights on Friday, or 25 percent of its schedule, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded, CNN reported.

    The move came after the airline failed twice to meet an airworthiness directive by the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA.

    American Airlines has canceled nearly 2,500 flights in the past three days.

    Over the past three weeks, U.S. carriers overall have shut down about 3,700 flights because of inspection issues, with the potential of cancellations continuing into the summer, leading to multi-million-U.S.-dollar daily losses, according to industry analysts.

    The cancelled flights have reduced air travel to a crawl for many passengers and stranded hundreds of thousands of customers.

    Grounded passengers are not the only thing hammering airlines.

    Rising fuel costs, long delays and public relations gaffes have also battered the industry.

    "It's a very troubled time for the industry," said Air Travelers Association president David Stempler.

    "It leaves passengers in a very unsettled state," he added.

American Airlines cancels over 3,000 flights in week

    BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhuanet)-- American Airlines canceled 570 flights scheduled for Friday as it continues its weeklong struggle with aircraft safety inspections.

    The cancellation raised the number of flights canceled in this week to more than 3,000 for inspection and repair of wiring in the wheel wells of its Boeing MD-80s.

    On Thursday, American canceled over 930 flights related to the MD-80 inspections. That followed the cancellation of 1,094 flights on Wednesday and 460 canceled flights on Tuesday. Full story