Delays are impacting travelers at U.S. airports, raising concerns as the long July 4 holiday weekend approaches.
Over 50 million Americans are expected to travel this weekend and airlines are struggling to handle the increasing number of passengers.
In the last few days alone, nearly 1,300 flights delayed and around 700 cancellations reported by the Associated Press.
The East Coast is experiencing the most severe disruptions, which are expected to spread westward. Thunderstorms on Tuesday exacerbated the situation, leading to flight hold-ups and cancellations.
United Airlines and JetBlue were particularly affected, with United canceling 500 flights (18% of its schedule) and JetBlue canceling 16% of its flights.
Despite the challenges, travel has been steadily recovering since the pandemic, with Tuesday recording a significant increase in the number of people flying.
However, passengers whose plans were disrupted expressed frustration on social media, criticizing the airlines for their lack of customer service.
The shortage of air traffic controllers is a major contributing factor to the issues faced by airlines.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been critical of the airlines, accusing them of inadequate customer service and over-scheduling flights.
But United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby shifted the blame from the airlines and attributed last weekend’s disruptions at the Newark hub to the shortage of air traffic controllers.
The FAA has acknowledged its understaffing issues and is currently training new controllers. However, the problem persists, and a recent report highlighted the FAA’s limited efforts in adequately staffing critical air traffic control centers.
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