More than 1,200 flights have been canceled in the United States as of 2:00 p.m. ET on Friday with more than 3,000 delays in posting, according to FlightAware, which Track flights in real time. The headache comes on the heels of one of the worst days of travel yet as the summer holiday season heats up. More than 1,750 US flights were canceled on Thursday.
At New York’s LaGuardia Airport, 17% of flights were already canceled on Friday, followed by Newark where 11% of traffic was curtailed.
Nationally, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have had the most cancellations to date, with schedules reduced for the day by 7% and 6%, respectively. These numbers do not include flights on its regional carriers, which operate as American Eagle and Delta Connection.
“The vast majority of that is weather-related,” said Curtis Blessing, a spokesman for American Airlines. He noted that Miami-area weather also contributed to the carrier’s Friday morning delays.
Airlines kicked off their busy summer travel season by canceling about 2,800 flights for five days around Memorial Day weekend, marking the start of what is likely to be a tough summer for the country’s air travelers.
Thursday and Friday’s troubles come on the heels of a hypothetical meeting between airline CEOs and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — a sign of the Biden administration’s concern about the prospect of crowded airports and unhappy travelers this summer.
“I’ve told them this is the moment when we’re really counting on them to provide reliable services to our traveling public,” Buttigieg told NBC News.
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What travelers need to know
If your flight is cancelled, the US Department of Transportation requires the airlines to rebook you on their next available service. If this does not work for you, the carrier must offer you a refund, even if you purchased a non-refundable ticket.
In the event of a delay, the airline’s liability is minimal less obvious. The Department of Transportation requires compensation for “significant delays,” but does not have an official definition of what counts as “significant.”
Many airlines have updated their policies during the pandemic to give travelers more flexibility to rebook or change plans. For example, Delta Air Lines automatically rebooks passengers whose flights have been canceled and sends them their new itineraries via email, text and the Fly Delta app. Customers are free to change their rebooked flight online or via the Delta digital messaging platform if the new itinerary does not work.
So far, airlines are not issuing pre-emptive change fee waivers in response to Friday’s cancellations, but affected passengers still have options to rebook.
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Why is this summer so hard to travel
As COVID restrictions continue to ease, more Americans are planning to venture away from their homes this summer, but airlines are struggling to keep up with the increase.
“I think every part of the travel industry from airlines to airport staff to security agents, they’ve all been caught up in this wanted explosion,” said Kyle Potter, website editor. frugal traveler, which aims to introduce people to the inner workings of the airline industry and find travel deals. “It’s really easy to have 20/20 vision in hindsight and tell airlines and airports ‘You went too far when bone-shrinking travel collapsed to stop losing money,'” but earlier in the pandemic, no one really knew how long it would last stagnation.
About 50 Delta Air Lines pilots protested in New York Thursday, saying they expect by the fall to have worked more hours in 2022 than they did in 2018 and 2019 combined.
And Delta is not alone in its staffing problems. JetBlue recently announced a plan to cut 10% of its schedule this summer in response to an expected shortfall in its ranks.
Travelers planning to travel this summer should make sure to check flight status with their airlines before heading to the airport and know their rights if something goes wrong.
Contributing: Associated Press
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