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Isabella Courchesne was about to enjoy an Italian diver at New York’s LaGuardia Airport when she received a family alert for many traveling on July 4: Her flight was delayed.
Courchesne was trying to spend a weekend grilling and shopping with the family in Cleveland. He remained patient after seeing about 15 flight cancellations on the airport departure board before his own Delta Air Lines flight was canceled and rescheduled for 24 hours later. A $ 15 meal voucher from the airline was nice, she said, but the 21-year-old still wondered if she would return home or if she would get caught having a snack at LaGuardia.
“Nothing at LaGuardia Airport costs $ 15, but it was better than nothing,” said Courchesne, who works for a DC consulting firm on K Street in The Washington Post. “I went to get a bunch of Jolly Ranchers. I thought $ 15 would have covered three family-sized packages, and that’s exactly what happened.”
As tens of millions of Americans are expected to fly or drive over the weekend of July 4, many are facing summer trips that have slowed down due to flight delays and cancellations. , and which have become more expensive due to high fuel prices.
An estimated 47.9 million travelers to the United States between Friday and Monday represent an increase of nearly 4 percent, compared to last year, according to AAA, which is approaching the level of summer travel that had not been seen in the country since before the coronavirus pandemic. While most of these passengers will be on the road, more than 3.5 million are expected to be on airliners, that is, if their flights are not delayed or canceled.
More than 3,800 flights inside, inside or outside the United States were delayed late Saturday afternoon, according to the FlightAware flight tracking website. Southwest Airlines showed 715 delayed flights on Saturday, which meant 20 percent of their total trips, the data show. American Airlines showed 643 delayed flights, accounting for 20 percent of its total flights. Delta had 368 delayed flights, good for 13 percent of the airline’s trips, according to FlightAware. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport led Saturday’s delays between U.S. airports, followed by Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
More than 2,300 flights were canceled on Saturday, according to FlightAware. American, Delta and United Airlines are leading the way among U.S. airlines for Saturday’s cancellations.
Flight cancellations stress tired travelers as July 4 approaches
Holiday interruptions come at a time when the airline industry is committed to a renewed focus on reliability. While weather has always been a problem for airlines, staff shortages during the pandemic have further hampered carriers ’ability to recover from delays. Several unions representing airline workers have spoken out and staged demonstrations to draw attention to employee tension. On Thursday, more than 1,200 Delta pilots and staff staged demonstrations at several airports stretching from New York to Los Angeles to demand a higher salary.
On Saturday, the Allied Pilots Association, the American Airlines union, said a failure of the previous night’s scheduling software allowed pilots to quit their jobs, which could be short of staff on more than 12,000 flights during the month. The airline said the “vast majority of affected trips” were restored and that there was no expected effect on operations.
Analysts for the Hopper travel booking app forecast a domestic plane ticket averaging $ 437 per round trip ticket, an increase of 45 percent compared to 2019. Some of the most popular destinations of the United States this weekend include Las Vegas, Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles and Miami, Hopper says.
“The volume of travelers we hope to see during Independence Day is a definite sign that summer travel is underway,” Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel, said in a press release. “People are ready for a break and even though things cost more, they are finding ways to take the much-needed vacation.”
However, problems with air travel continue, despite US airlines receiving billions in pandemic relief funds to keep workers at work. When the Americans were ready to fly again, it was hoped that the airlines would be ready for them, especially for a time that some have dubbed as the year of “revenge trips”. Transport Safety Administration agents examined more than 2.46 million people last Sunday, the highest volume since Feb. 11, 2020.
Welcome to summer travel. It’s hell.
But tens of thousands of delays and combined cancellations made it difficult for travelers celebrating the busy weekends of June and Father’s Day last month. The airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration have blamed each other for the disruption of air travel.
Flight cancellations wrap up on Father’s Day, the travel weekend of June
The discussion about air travel efficiency intensified this week when Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the Department of Transportation to “fine the airlines with $ 55,000 per passenger for every flight cancellation they know they can’t be fully equipped. ” ”
“The American people are fed up with the airlines scamming them, canceling flights at the last minute and delaying flights for hours and hours,” Sanders tweeted.
Buttigieg, who has asked the airline to “deliver” to the American people, said Saturday that its own connecting flight was canceled on Friday. In a series of tweets, Buttigieg said travelers should be “entitled to a cash refund when their flight is canceled.”
“At first, the airline offered 2,500 miles, which I estimate is worth about $ 30. But I claimed a refund for the canceled part, and it turned out to be $ 112.07,” Buttigieg wrote. “Airlines offer miles as compensation for some travel issues, and you can often negotiate. That’s between you and the airline. But you’re entitled to cash refunds for canceled flights; that’s a requirement we’ll continue. compliant “.
Passengers in Frankfurt, Germany and London faced long delays and baggage congestion on July 1, as airlines struggled to handle “the high number of passengers”. (Video: The Washington Post)
Even though airline passengers face reliability issues, millions traveling by road are still struggling with what they have to pay at the pump.
The national average price of a gallon of gasoline is $ 4.82 on Saturday, according to the AAA, which is slightly lower than the Friday average of $ 4.84. Ten states and the District of Columbia have average prices of $ 5 or more. With an average of $ 6.25 a gallon, California still leads the nation in fuel costs.
AAA estimates that 42 million people will drive this weekend. Even with high fuel prices, the agency notes that Americans could feel more in control of their arrival by driving instead of flying.
“Traveling by car offers a level of comfort and flexibility that people may be looking for given the recent challenges of flying,” Twidale said.
Courchesne admits she’s one of the lucky ones, and not just because Delta helped fund her Jolly Rancher solution. After she was initially told her trip would be delayed by about 28 hours, she said a Delta service employee was able to book her on a Friday night flight to take her to Cleveland. She is eager to spend time with her grandmother and celebrate some family birthdays, but it won’t last long. He’s already thinking about his flight back to Washington on Monday, one that includes another stopover at LaGuardia.
“I’m trying to make fireworks in DC,” he said. “I hope the comeback is a little easier, but I’m not really planning on that.”
Lori Aratani, Hannah Sampson, James Bikales and Meryl Kornfield contributed to this report.