Thousands of airline passengers have faced cancelled or delayed flights amid surges in summer travel, as many worry about possible travel woes ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
About 1,200 flights were cancelled on Wednesday and nearly 7,000 delayed, according to data from FlightAware, according to Newsweek.
Disruptions were at their worst on the east coast due to thunderstorms in the area. Flights headed to Boston were temporarily delayed on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. New York City-area and Washington DC airports also had flights stopped on Tuesday due to storms.
Poor weather is only partly to blame for nationwide delays and cancellations. Several airlines are still dealing with staff shortages after reducing staff during the pandemic, reported CNN.
Ongoing delays also means that airline crews could hit their federally mandated workday limits, only worsening delays given smaller numbers of staff.
There are also fewer seats available, 10% less this quarter than in 2019, according to CNN. Airlines have stopped using older, less efficient models of planes, further decreasing the number of available seats.
And the travel chaos may only get worse, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The agency predicted that Thursday would be the busiest travel day during the Fourth of July holiday, as airlines already struggle to keep up with increased demand.
Many who had their travel plans disrupted vented about their frustrations on social media.
One user posted a video of a long line of United passengers attempting to rebook their cancelled flight on Wednesday.
All these people had their flights canceled by @united pic.twitter.com/Wb1rB2oW9B
— Reed Coverdale (@ReedCoverdale) June 29, 2023
Another United customer posted about struggling to get help with customer service after flight delays.
“[T]he line right now for [United] customer service. if I had to guess it’s over a thousand people, we’ve been in line for four hours and we are probably halfway through it. insane. stuck in SFO for four days potentially because of cancelled flights, no where to sleep,” tweeted the customer on Thursday.
the line right now for @united customer service. if I had to guess it’s over a thousand people, we’ve been in line for four hours and we are probably halfway through it. insane. stuck in SFO for four days potentially because of cancelled flights, no where to sleep pic.twitter.com/qW2JluXTin
— laurelpalooza (@hoesaintlaurel) June 29, 2023
Compared with other airlines, United Airlines has had the bulk of cancellations and delays.
Last week, almost 150,000 United passengers had flights cancelled or delayed heavily, reported the Washington Post.
On Monday, the airline cancelled nearly 600 flights, about 20% of its flight schedule. United cancelled 450 flights on Tuesday, while Delta only cancelled 61, reported the Post.
United’s CEO, Scott Kirby, sent an email late Monday, blaming short staffing within the FAA for travel disruptions.
“The FAA frankly failed us this weekend,” Kirby wrote.
Kirby wrote in the email that the agency had reduced arrival and departure rates from New York City-area airlines, with thunderstorms exacerbating the delays.
“It led to massive delays, cancellations, diversions, as well as crews and aircraft out of position,” wrote Kirby, reported the Post.
“And that put everyone behind the eight ball when weather actually did hit on Sunday and was further compounded by FAA staffing shortages Sunday evening.”
United was not immediately available for comment.
The FAA has not directly responded to Kirby’s accusations, but said in a statement obtained by the Post: “We will always collaborate with anyone seriously willing to join us to solve a problem.”
