The aviation industry has a supply and demand problem right now.
Due to rising labor costs, fierce competition for workers and a scramble to replace pilots and other workers who retired during the pandemic, airlines find themselves short-handed at the moment. Even though some airlines have begun spending the necessary money to train and recruit a new generation of pilots, air-traffic controllers and other key workers, this isn’t something that can be fixed overnight.
Don’t Miss: New Airport Technology Could Use This Scary Identifier Instead of Passports
On the other hand, demand for air travel continues to surge, as international travel demand surged almost 116 percent last August, and this year, travel is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels.
So a lot of people are going to want to take a flight this summer. More people than the airlines are used to, in fact, and more than they can reasonably expect to accommodate.
Last year saw a rash of flight delays and cancellations that got so out of control that the White House had to start threatening the industry with legislation it wasn’t going to like, including forcing airlines to reimburse people for hotels and meals when their flights are canceled or significantly delayed.
Now, some airlines are attempting to prevent what seems like otherwise unavoidable congestion by taking a step that many people aren’t going to like.
JetBlue To Trim Flights, Other Airlines May Follow
JetBlue (JBLU) has announced it will cut back on flights out of New York this summer, as federal regulators have urged airlines to reduce schedules by up to 10% at some of the nation’s busiest airports due to a lack of in air-traffic controllers.
“This summer is going to be really hard again,” said JetBlue Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes said Wednesday at the Economic Club of New York. “We need to reduce flying and make sure we can operate what we’ve got.”
Delta Air Lines (DAL) and United Airlines (UAL) are also looking to cut back on available flights in some markets this summer to reduce congestion and delays.
The Federal Aviation Administration has said there are still not enough air-traffic controllers at the facility that serves New York’s three major airports, and this week the agency met with airlines, private-plane operators, and the air-traffic controllers’ union to discuss how to restrict flight congestion.
Airlines have until April 30 to identify what flight slots they will temporarily give up this summer at airports in Washington and the New York area.
