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A2 UP FRONT
Friday 1 July 2022
All eyes on airlines as July Fourth holiday weekend nears

By DAVID KOENIG ic levels. Since last Satur- flight comes with a higher
DALLAS (AP) — Airlines day, an average of nearly fare.
that have stumbled badly 2.3 million people a day "Delta people are working
over the last two holidays have gone through airport around the clock to rebuild
face their biggest test yet checkpoints — down just Delta's operation while
of whether they can han- 8% from the same days in making it as resilient as pos-
dle big crowds when July 2019. If that trend continues sible to minimize the ripple
Fourth travelers mob the through weekend, records effect of disruptions," the
nation's airports this week- will be set for flying in the airline said.
end. pandemic era. Delta had by far the most
Problems were popping Airlines may not have canceled flights of any U.S.
up well before the week- enough planes and flights airline over the Memorial
end, with some disruptions Off-duty Delta Air Lines pilots picket at Salt Lake City Interna- to carry all of them, espe- Day holiday stretch, when
caused by thunderstorms tional Airport Thursday, June 30, 2022, in Salt Lake City. cially if there are cancella- U.S. carriers scrubbed near-
that slowed air traffic. Associated Press tions due to weather, crew ly 2,800 flights, and again
American Airlines canceled shortages or any other rea- last weekend, when it can-
8% of its flights on Tuesday since hitting a record $5.02 from the same week last son. celed 7% of its flights, ac-
and Wednesday, and Unit- in mid-June to $4.86 a gal- June, according to govern- "Airlines are learning the cording to FlightAware.
ed Airlines scrubbed 4% of lon on Thursday, accord- ment figures. In a Quinni- hard way that there is a The airlines are increasingly
its schedule both days, ac- ing to AAA, which expects piac University poll in June, severe price for over-opti- trying to blame delays on
cording to FlightAware. prices to continue to ease 40% of those surveyed said mism," said Joseph Schwi- understaffing at the Feder-
Holiday revelers planning to because of rising gasoline gas prices have caused eterman, a transportation al Aviation Administration,
drive face their own set of inventories. them to change their sum- expert at DePaul University. which manages the na-
challenges, including high Americans are driving a mer vacation plans. "They are on the edge of a tion's airspace and hires air
gasoline prices. The nation- bit less. Gas demand last Air travel in the U.S. is al- cliff this holiday." traffic controllers.
wide average has eased week was down about 3% most back to pre-pandem- Schwieterman calculates "This year versus previous
that airlines have little cush- years, the biggest issue has
ion between the number been air traffic control,"
of travelers expected to said Barry Biffle, the CEO of
fly this weekend and the Frontier Airlines.
flights they plan to oper- "We've made a lot of steps
ate — if all goes well. Any to avoid the Jacksonville
disruptions could cause center in our scheduling,
chaos because planes are and we have reduced
booked full — there will be some flying to accommo-
no empty seats on later date that."
flights to accommodate The FAA has a major facility
stranded travelers. in Jacksonville, Florida, that
Airlines have been caught handles many flights up
short-staffed as they try to and down the East Coast.
hire thousands of workers, After a meeting with airline
including pilots, to replace representatives in May, the
those who they encour- FAA promised to increase
aged to quit when the pan- staffing at the center.
demic caused air travel to Delta CEO Ed Bastian simi-
plummet. larly blamed the FAA dur-
Many of them, including ing an online meeting with
Delta, Southwest and Jet- employees Wednesday,
Blue, have trimmed sum- trade publication Airline
mer schedules to reduce Weekly reported. Delta de-
stress on their operations. clined to comment.
They are using larger planes Transportation Secretary
on average to carry more Pete Buttigieg pushed back
passengers with the same earlier this week when the
number of pilots. Those head of the trade group
steps haven't been enough Airlines for America blamed
so far this summer. the FAA for delays.
Delta Air Lines took the "The majority of cancella-
unusual step this week of tions and the majority of
warning travelers that there delays have nothing to do
could be problems over with air traffic control staff-
the holiday weekend. ing," Buttigieg told "NBC
The Atlanta-based airline Nightly News."
said it expects the biggest Helane Becker, an airline
crowds since 2019, and this analyst for investment firm
will create "some opera- Cowen, said there are
tional challenges." It is al- many reasons for the dis-
lowing passengers booked ruptions including weather,
on flights between Friday FAA ground stops that last
and the Monday holiday too long, and flight crews
to change their schedule hitting their legal limit of
at no cost, even if the new working hours in a day. q