This year’s most popular air travel day was a mess and things aren’t going to change anytime soon

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CNN Business
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Americans got a new federal holiday last year: Juneteenth. This year, the holiday, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, falls on Sunday, but will be celebrated in many places on Monday, June 20.

Given that this long summer weekend also coincides with Father’s Day, that means there will be plenty of travel.

Registered on the Friday before Juneteenth as Most popular air travel days for 2022According to Transportation Security Administration statistics. Airports haven’t been this crowded since Thanksgiving in 2021.

TSA officers said they screened about 2,438,784 people at airport security checkpoints across the country on Friday, the most since November 28, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. This was also about 100,000 more passengers than on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.

“Welcome to Juneteenth Weekend Travel!” TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein wrote on Twitter.

While Juneteenth became a public holiday last year, this is the first year that the US stock exchange and banks are closed in her honor.

The rise cannot happen in numbers It comes at a worse time for US airlines. A combination of severe weather, staff shortages and infrastructure challenges has left major carriers struggling to keep up with the increase in travel. Nearly 9,000 flights within the United States were postponed on Friday and others 1500 flights canceled According to the FlightAware dataset.

More than 850 flights were canceled on Saturday for each FlightAware. By late Sunday, More than 900 trips Within the United States, within or outside the United States it is canceled for today, according to FlightAware.

Increased delays and cancellations It comes just a day after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with airline chief executives to discuss ways to improve performance and operations ahead of another expected increase in travel over the Fourth of July holiday.

Around 2,700 flights were canceled over the Memorial Day weekend. Major airlines are already proactively canceling more flights as the busy summer season heats up. Southwest Airlines cut Nearly 20,000 flights between June and Labor Day and is struggling to hire 10,000 new workers it says it needs to meet demand.

“I drive through Whataburger and pay and get my bag, and I get into the bag for a job,” Southwest CEO Robert Jordan joked. Dallas Morning News Last year it was difficult to find job seekers. “That’s what it came to.”

Delta said it will cancel 100 daily flights in the United States and Latin America from July 1 to August 7. In an open letter to customers, Delta pilots wrote that a labor shortage has put them on their way to fly more hours this year than everyone else. 2018 and 2019 combined.

Scott, United Airlines CEO Scott, United Airlines CEO, Kirby said during the airline’s quarterly earnings call in April.

Unions representing pilots in Delta, the United States and the Southwest say airlines got into the current situation by refusing to replace pilots who retired and took time off during the height of the pandemic. When air travel decreased.

According to pilots’ unions, about 8,000 new commercial pilots gained certification last year There should be no shortage. current service narrative cut, they callby companies to justify lowering training and safety requirements that will boost profit margins.

Some US senators note. “While some flight cancellations are inevitable, the sheer number of delays and cancellations this past weekend raises questions about airline decision-making,” Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey wrote in a letter to Buttigieg earlier this month.