Bad weather once again played a role, but staff shortages across the airline industry also fueled the problem. Airlines don’t have the staff, especially among pilots, to adjust when bad weather causes delays. But the good news is that FlightAware figures on Monday afternoon showed 219 flights were cancelled, less than 1% of the day’s schedule. This is the third holiday weekend in a row that has seen an increase in canceled flights as airlines struggle to manage demand for short-staffed flights. About 3% of scheduled flights Friday through Monday of the Memorial Day weekend were canceled and about 4% of flights were canceled Thursday through Monday around Father’s Day and the June 10th weekend. In 2019, in the face of the pandemic, canceled flights typically did not exceed 1% of the schedule, even on holiday weekends. And when bad weather caused a surge in canceled flights, as it did on Saturday, July 6 of that year, business returned to normal much more quickly. But it’s not just the holidays that cause problems. Cancellations over the July 4th weekend were actually down from the previous week, when daily cancellations ranged from 2.5% to 3.6% of the schedule. Cancellations are becoming the norm because of the staffing situation, said Kathleen Bangs, a former airline pilot who now works for FlightAware. “Weather has always affected aviation, but the weather so far this summer has been no worse than normal,” he said. “When we see severe weather, it takes more time for airlines to fight and recover. They don’t have the deep bench of pilots to call on. It really seems to be more of a system-wide staffing issue, going all the way up to the FAA in terms of concerns an air traffic control system’. To deal with staffing shortages, US airlines are also in the process of cutting their summer schedule, despite strong demand for travel. But that combination of strong demand and limited seat supply is only pushing average airfares above what passengers were paying before the pandemic. The average fare paid by leisure travelers rose nearly 50 percent from a year ago, according to the most recent data compiled by Wall Street firm Cowen. Sara Nelson, International President, Association of Flight Attendants, said airlines are not doing enough to hire the additional staff they need, from front-line workers such as pilots, engineers and flight attendants to support staff, including those who handle scheduling . “Crews are waiting one, two, three, four hours to get in touch with a crew scheduler,” Nelson told CNN’s Christine Romans on Monday. He said this means some crew members are reaching the end of the hours they are allowed to work without being put on another flight. “We are very disappointed with the airlines that have the support of operational support during this period,” he said. But he said some of the problems with delays and canceled flights are inevitable. “I want to remind people, it’s not always the airlines’ fault. So a little empathy for the people on the front lines. We’ll get you there safely,” he said. Problems with cancellations are not limited to US flights. FlightAware data showed a total of nearly 1,800 flights were canceled worldwide on Sunday alone, with more than 1,400 outside the United States. Switzerland-based EasyJet announced on Monday that Peter Bellew has resigned as chief executive of the discount carrier, following flight cancellations, staff shortages and strikes. But the problems are attracting more attention in the United States, especially since US airlines received $54 billion in federal aid to help them deal with falling traffic during the pandemic. The money was used to keep staff in place so they have enough workers once air traffic returns. But nearly all airlines used voluntary buyouts and early retirement packages to cut staff during the recession, leading to staff shortages. Sen. Bernie Sanders said government aid to airlines calls for the Transportation Department to impose large fines when flights are delayed or canceled — calling for fines of $55,000 per passenger if airlines cancel flights they know cannot be fully staffed.
