Flight cancellations in the United States could likely continue in the coming weeks as the aviation industry faces challenges in staffing its operations amid rising demand.
A senior United Airlines (UAL.O) executive said on Wednesday that the US aviation system would "remain challenged this summer and beyond," and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires more air traffic control staff.
Though the FAA claimed Wednesday "there were no FAA staffing-related delays at all, yet airlines still canceled over 1,100 flights, a quarter of which were United Airlines flights" on July 3 and 4.
Summer travelers face increasing US flight cancellations as demand rises, and the industry works to restore staff levels after thousands of employees left due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Reuters report.
United's chief operations officer, Jon Roitman, told his staff that the "reality" is there are "more flights scheduled industrywide" than the air traffic control personnel can manage.
He added: "Until that is resolved, we expect the US aviation system will remain challenged this summer and beyond."
The FAA remarked that it continues to uphold its obligation "to hold airlines accountable" while being prepared to work with them when necessary so that American travelers can anticipate secure, dependable, and reasonably priced service every time they book a flight.
Buttigieg: Staff Shortage Is Not the Main Cause of Flight Issues
On Tuesday, US Transportation Pete Buttigieg stated in a CNBC interview that the issues on air traffic control staffing "do not explain the majority of delays and cancellations" in the aviation system now.
In a recent interview with WBUR, Buttigieg, who discussed summer travel problems with airline CEOs on June 16, noted that the flying public demands quality service from airline companies amid the situation.
He said: "Look, sometimes there's just a situation, like a weather event that is going to cause cancellations and delays. But other times, these are issues that are within somebody's control. And we need to make sure that those issues are addressed so that we have fewer of these cancellations and delays in the first place. And then when cancellations and delays do happen, we're going to make sure that airlines meet their responsibilities to take care of you."
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United has temporarily stopped 12$ departures from its Newark hub alone due to congestion, while American airlines have reduced approximately 15% of planned summer flights, according to an airline trade group's report last month.
Airline Companies Working To Solve the Problems
The United States screened 8.8 million passengers throughout the four-day July Fourth vacation weekend. Checkpoints operated by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) surpassed those in 2020 and 2021 but were around 12% below those in 2019.
In the last four months, as per Roitman's estimation, the FAA's traffic control activities were responsible for more than 50% of United's delay minutes and 75% of its cancellations.
He claimed that United's performance over the holiday weekend was better than its rivals. Though Roitman admitted that there is "some work to do to meet standards of reliability and operational performance."
According to a trade group for the airline industry, a key Florida center had been understaffed for 27 of the previous 30 days that crippled traffic flows along the east coast. Hence it demanded that the FAA ensure adequate air traffic control staffing to prevent further disruptions of summer travel.
In the previous few weeks, airlines worked on reducing summer travel disruptions as per CNBC. To have more time to recover when something goes wrong, such as when thunderstorms slammed key airline hubs over the weekend, airlines like Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and others have cut back on their timetables.
