From WWW.DAILYMAIL.CO.UK
The crisis in the airline industry will continue over the July 4 holiday as thousands face delays and cancelations amid a staff shortage and picketing pilots.
On Thursday alone, 5,827 flights within, in or out of the United States have been delayed, while another 639 were canceled. This comes ahead of a holiday weekend, which is expected to see 3.55 million Americans fly according to AAA, with Friday expected to be the peak day for air travel.
Not only are airports likely to be jammed, the roads will be back to normal despite sustained high gas prices, with a record 42 million motorist predicted to travel at least 50 miles by road this weekend.
In total, AAA projects that 47.9 million Americans will travel for the Fourth this year, up 3.7 percent from last year and close to the historic peak reached in 2019, before the pandemic struck.
‘The volume of travelers we expect to see over Independence Day is a definite sign that summer travel is kicking into high gear,’ said Paula Twidale, senior vice president, AAA Travel.
In addition to airport chaos and heavy traffic, holiday travelers will have to contend with higher prices. Average gas prices have soared 56 percent from a year ago, mid-range hotel prices have increased 23 percent, and average lowest airfares are up 14 percent.
For air travelers, Newark Liberty International Airport remains the most prolific in terms of cancelations with 49 on Thursday, while Denver International has the most delays at 349.
American Airlines canceled 8 percent of its flights on Tuesday and Wednesday, and United Airlines scrubbed 4 percent of its schedule both days, according to FlightAware.
Travelers are already facing a difficult summer as airlines expect record demand while they rebuild staff to make up for the thousands of workers who left the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Delta Air Lines took the unusual step this week of warning travelers that there could be problems over the holiday weekend.
Delta had by far the most canceled flights of any U. S. airline over the Memorial Day holiday stretch, when U.S. carriers scrubbed nearly 2,800 flights, and again last weekend, when it canceled seven percent of flights.
American Airlines alone has delayed over 700 flights, but one pilot says that 88 percent are due to staff shortages and the delays are actually meant to spin the truth.
Delta Airlines pilots planned to start picketing on Thursday at several major airports including LAX, JFK and Atlanta, which are some of the most affected in terms of cancellations and delays.
Dennis Tajer, active American Airlines pilot and the Communications Committee chairman for the Allied Pilots Association, claims AA is delaying flights 24 hours instead of canceling to make the cancelation numbers appear lower.
He noted that any flight delayed by 24 hours is essentially a stand-in for a canceled flight.
‘American Airlines is claiming that they have the pilots to fly the summer schedule. They’ve said that they have a training backlog, but we’re good,’ Tajer said.
‘We don’t believe them. Based on our numbers, they do not have the pilots and staffing to get this done. We’re warned them for months and month. This is a broken record, the needle is skipping on the same groove of the vinyl.’
Over 750,000 passengers have had their flights impacted in the month of June on American Airlines alone, with 75,000 just in the past two days.
‘The house is on fire. We have buckets of water and they’ve told us not to move,’ said Tajer, who claims that solutions exist to better utilize pilots and let them work overtime, but American refuses.
‘What’s even worse we have solutions to better utilize us. We’ve told them for the last two summers, but they’re not interested.’
In addition, the Biden administration is blaming the airlines, saying it received billions in stimulus money to keep afloat during the pandemic and should stick to the schedule it publishes.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said earlier this month that airlines had until July 4 to figure out the issues and work out the kinks so travelers can have a smooth summer holiday.
Buttigieg pushed back earlier this week when the head of the trade group Airlines for America blamed the FAA for delays.
‘The majority of cancellations and the majority of delays have nothing to do with air traffic control staffing,’ Buttigieg told ‘NBC Nightly News.’
Sen. Bernie Sanders demanded Washington fine airlines $55,000 per passenger for every flight cancellation they know can’t be fully staffed.
‘The American people are sick of airlines ripping them off, canceling flights at the last minute and delaying flights for hours on end,’ he said.
Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked 10 airline CEOs this week to ‘take immediate action’ to reduce travel disruptions. The senators demanded information about how each airline decides which flights to cancel and the number of consumer refunds requested and granted.
United Airlines will cut about 50 flights a day out of Newark in an attempt to reduce long delays that the airline blames on airport construction and other issues.
The cuts – about 12 percent of United flights in Newark – will start July 1 and last the rest of the summer. United is the main airline of Newark Liberty International Airport, which is just across the Hudson River from New York City, and gets heavy use from people living in and around the city…. (Read more)
