Planes are de-iced at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee
Reuters
Flight cancellations fell further on Monday, but disruptions to harsh winter weather across the United States lingered at the end of the Christmas weekend.
Airlines have canceled more than 17,000 US flights since Wednesday, according to FlightAware, as storms brought snow, ice, high winds and freezing cold across the country, derailing air travel from coast to coast. These conditions slowed ground crews as they faced tough conditions at airports.
Carriers will likely detail disruption costs when they report results next month, if not sooner.
South West Airlines was particularly affected by winter storms during the holiday travel period, as well as other issues, including unexpected fog in San Diego and staff shortages at a fuel vendor in Denver, the manager said. operation of the carrier to the personnel.
Southwest had proactively canceled many flights in an effort to stabilize operations, COO Andrew Watterson said. From Wednesday to Saturday, about a quarter of Southwest’s flights were canceled and two-thirds were delayed, according to data from FlightAware.
The airline has apologized to employees for the chaos, which has left many struggling to get its hands on crew scheduling services, making it harder to get reassignments or make other changes, or get hotel rooms. Southwest also offered flight attendants working on vacations extra pay.
“Part of what we are suffering from is a lack of tools,” Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said in a message to staff on Sunday. “We’ve talked a lot about modernizing operations and the need to do that. And crew planning is one of the areas we need to invest in. We need to be able to produce solutions faster.”
Airlines often proactively cancel flights in bad weather to keep planes, crews and customers out of place, issues that can make it harder to recover from a storm.
Carriers have also reduced planned timings for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day from the days leading up to the holiday, making it harder for them to rebook travelers on other flights, and bookings have increased .
Passengers check in at the Delta counter at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Michigan on December 22, 2022.
Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty Images
On Monday, more than 1,700 flights were canceled and another 2,200 were delayed, compared to nearly 3,200 canceled flights and 7,700 US flights delayed on Sunday.
Delta Airlines, American airlines, United Airlines, Jet Blue Airways and Alaska Airlines were among the other carriers affected by the weather.
An American Airlines spokeswoman said “the vast majority of our customers affected by the cancellations have been able to be relocated.”
Delta “sees a steady recovery in our operations and expects improvements to continue over the next several hours,” a spokesperson said Monday.
However, passengers also faced baggage delays.
Bill Weaver, 41, said he, his wife and five children drove from Wichita, Kansas, to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport for a flight Friday to Cancun after their flight from connection to American Airlines hub. The American Airlines flight to Cancun arrived on time, but their luggage only arrived in Cancun on Monday and had not arrived at their hotel by mid-morning. So they had to spend hundreds of dollars buying clothes and other essentials. at their hotel.
Weaver, who works in software sales, said he travels frequently.
“I usually miss bags and things happen, but this is by far the worst I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Extreme cold and high winds have slowed ground operations at dozens of airports. More than half of US-based airline flights arrived late Thursday through Saturday, with average delays of 81 minutes, according to FlightAware.
“Temperatures have dropped so low that our equipment and infrastructure have been impacted, from frozen lavatory systems and fuel hoses to broken tow bars,” United Airlines’ message to pilots said on Saturday. Pilots have encountered frozen locks while trying to re-enter the jet deck after completing rounds.
The FAA said it had to evacuate its tower at United Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey due to a leak on Saturday.
JetBlue, meanwhile, offered flight attendants triple pay to support travel on Christmas Eve due to a staff shortage.
Comments
Post a Comment