Airlines scrambled to salvage their summer schedules on Wednesday amid massive nationwide delays and cancellations on the fifth day ahead of the July 4 travel rush.
Travelers at airports across the country faced hardship on Wednesday as nearly 30,000 flights were delayed and 2,000 canceled – leaving scores of passengers stranded.
The problem is likely to get worse before it gets better: Thursday will be the busiest day of the bank holiday weekend, with 52,500 scheduled flights.
United was the hardest-hit airline on Wednesday, with a quarter of all flights, nearly 700, canceled and nearly half delayed
Newark was the hardest-hit airport, but Chicago, LaGuardia, Houston and Denver were also badly hit: The misery will continue for several more days as airlines try to fix the backlog.
A traveler checks the departure board at Los Angeles’ LAX airport on Wednesday, amid widespread delays and cancellations
With airlines and the FAA facing staff shortages, long lines of people are seen waiting to check in for flights at LAX on Wednesday
Travelers use their electronic devices while lying on the floor of the Terminal B departures area at LaGuardia Airport
A woman has settled into Austin International Airport as flight chaos continues
The “misery map” created by Flight Aware on Wednesday showed that the areas of Denver, Chicago, New York and
Huge crowds, inclement weather, the inability of some flight crews to reach their flight planning offices — even a Delta jet that went belly-flop in Charlotte, North Carolina — all contributed to the chaos.
Staff shortages at the airlines and at the Federal Aviation Administration also caused chaos.
Although $54 billion in taxpayers’ money has flowed into airlines to keep them afloat during the pandemic, most airlines have severely reduced headcount and have found it harder than expected to rehire workers. Many older workers accepted early retirement, while others accepted hiring and found new, less demanding work.
On Tuesday, Tia Hudson was back at Newark Liberty International Airport for the fourth straight day trying to catch a United Airlines flight bound for Louisiana.
“My flight has now been canceled five times.” “I’ve slept two nights at the airport, booked two hotels since I’ve been here, spent over $700 and they said they wouldn’t refund me because it was weather related” , she said.
‘It’s not weather related.’ There’s a shortage of pilots and flight attendants.’
Hudson missed her mother’s wedding, causing her to skip her own honeymoon to meet Tia at the airport near Dallas – but the flight was cancelled.
In addition, Hudson’s pockets were lost.
The emergency landing of a Delta plane in Charlotte hasn’t exactly contributed to national delays
The flight landed “smoothly” with 96 passengers on board, all unharmed
Complaints also abounded on social media, with United receiving the harshest criticism.
“So my family and I traveled to NYC for a beautiful Sweet 16 party for my niece,” said Zamora Ford.
“While we enjoyed every moment of the weekend, we assumed our trip would conclude on Monday…well, the airline had other plans.”
“So it’s been two days now and we’re still here.”
“These airlines really suck given the thousands of cancellations that have taken place this week. “Our flights have been canceled twice within 2 days.”
Denver’s David Parke missed a one-off Diana Ross concert due to cancellations.
“My partner and I booked first class seats to see DIANA ROSS on Radio City Thursday night and now I can only HATE YOU for it (seldom use that word)!”
“My lifetime dream of seeing this living legend in NYC is being shattered for reasons I don’t believe in.”
He added, “I’m sorry DIANA, maybe I see you in my dreams!”
A flight attendant who works with United warned people against postponing their plans
United was the hardest-hit airline in the United States on Wednesday
Lonnie Pearo and his wife, both in their 70s, said they were stranded at the Seattle airport for three days waiting for a flight to Chicago.
“The service was terrible when trying to reschedule.” They don’t seem to care. “I’m running out of money and opportunities,” he said.
Pearo then updated his post and stated that they rented a car for $1,000 to drive from Seattle to Portland and fly from there.
He said Seattle Airport is a disastrous place where “babies and the disabled would sleep on the floor; grown people cry; Older people are losing their dream trips to Hawaii and beyond.”
He added: “I’ve seen constant lies from United employees. ‘Total shame.’
Regina Ramirez Aleman said she was devastated that her family’s “long-awaited summer vacation” had turned into a nightmare.
Her group was separated and rebooked by the airline, meaning her husband had to fly without her.
She couldn’t get a refund for the Hawaii hotels because the flights were canceled too late.
And this week’s flights are now over $3,000 each.
“It’s disheartening when such short-term disruptions overshadow careful planning and being away from work,” she said.
“We hope that United Airlines can remedy this situation immediately, remedy the inconvenience caused and help salvage what’s left of our July 4th vacation plans.” “It would be nice if we could get someone on the phone!”
United admitted they were struggling but hoped the worst was over.
“We are starting to see improvements across our operations,” United said in a statement on Wednesday night.
“As our operations improve over the coming days, we will be on track to restore our operations for the bank holiday weekend.”
JFK’s departure area on Wednesday, five days into the “flight” that has stranded thousands and thousands of US travelers
A United steward wrote on social media: “If you can avoid flying now please do so.”
The anonymous employee continued, “I’m a flight attendant at United.”
“Your flight will be delayed or cancelled.” There are currently insufficient staff to support operations.
“Don’t do it unless you want to get stuck.”
“They leave their flight attendants and pilots stranded everywhere with no response from any cities.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes the FAA, has been criticizing the airlines for more than a year.
He accused them of not maintaining proper standards when it came to customer service and hinted that they schedule more flights than they can handle.
The airlines deny their guilt and instead point the finger at federal authorities.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby blamed a shortage of state air traffic controllers for last weekend’s massive disruption at the Newark hub.
“We estimate that over 150,000 United customers were impacted this weekend alone due to staffing issues with the FAA and their ability to handle traffic,” Kirby wrote in a memo to employees Monday night.
An angry flyer accused United of “treating customers with the utmost contempt and disregard”.
The passenger wrote online, “Oh, and the online system is down.” All the gate agents refuse to help. This was caused by the flight crew not showing up, which resulted in delays. Before boarding the flight we tried to deal with the situation but they refused.
“This is the worst experience I’ve ever had with a company.”
A line of customers snaked through Newark on Tuesday trying to rebook flights and find accommodation after cancellations
A third of flights out of LaGuardia were canceled on Tuesday after Monday’s mass delays and cancellations
The FAA signaled earlier this year that it might have a hard time maintaining flights in New York, the country’s busiest airspace.
Faced with a serious shortage of air traffic controllers at a key Long Island facility, the FAA persuaded airlines to cut their summer schedules to avoid overloading the system.
The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents United’s cabin crew, said United was contributing to the situation.
The union said workers had to wait three hours or more when calling a workforce scheduling center for assignments due to “limited phone lines and limited staff”.
Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, where American and Southwest are based, sided with the airlines in a series of tweets about delays at the three major New York City-area airports.
“The FAA’s New York air traffic facility staffing level is 54%,” Cruz tweeted. “Yet (the Department of Transport) blames the weather for the delays.” Nonsense.’
A Transport Department spokesman said the agency is working with airlines to remedy the situation, but the combination of heavy traffic and inclement weather is reducing the speed at which planes can safely take off and land, causing delays and canceled flights.
The FAA is training about 3,000 new air traffic controllers, but most of them won’t be ready any time soon.
Last week, the Department of Transportation’s inspector general said in a report that the FAA had made “limited efforts” to adequately staff critical air traffic control centers and lacked a plan to address the problem.
Last week Buttigieg issued a new warning to airlines, telling them that planes not equipped with new radio altimeters – devices that measure an airplane’s height above the ground – will not be allowed to fly in reduced visibility starting this Saturday due to possible interference from the new 5G mobile service.
American, United, Southwest, Alaska and Frontier say all of their planes have been upgraded, but Delta Air Lines still has about 190 planes awaiting upgrade because their supplier doesn’t have enough altimeters.
Delta said it will schedule those planes not to land where the weather could be inclement to limit disruption.
Smaller airlines that operate regional flights could also be affected by the radio interference, as could flights operated by foreign airlines to the United States.