The number of canceled flights doubled in a week to nearly 700 as of Monday morning after industry experts gave clear warnings that the travel chaos would last for years.
Airlines were reporting nearly 600 delays as of 8 a.m., according to tracking service FlightAware, with New York City, Atlanta and Boston airports hit hardest by disruptions.
It’s a huge spike in cancellations since last Monday, when airlines canceled 380 flights.
Aviation experts blame the pilot shortage and warn the problem will take years to resolve and a summer of chaos will follow.
Industry expert David Slotnick said: “The pilot shortage will not go away in the next few years. The best airlines can do on this front is to deploy their pilots as strategically as possible, plan flights properly and prioritize routes as efficiently as possible.’
Congress leaders are demanding answers from airlines as to why disruptions continue, especially as the industry received $50 billion in relief during the pandemic to keep business afloat.
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg has made tackling air travel chaos a priority, even claiming his department can force airlines to hire more staff.
Flight disruptions have caused a trickle-down effect across the travel industry, making it difficult to access ridesharing, rental cars or public transport.
New Yorkers returning home from Miami, Fla. on Sunday night told they had been waiting for a cab at LaGuardia Airport for over an hour. Uber and Lyft orders were not picked up.
The US was hit by a second week of travel misery, with almost 700 flights canceled as of Monday morning. The airlines also reported almost 600 delays
It’s a huge spike in cancellations since last Monday, when airlines canceled 380 flights
Footage taken at the airport shows the taxi queue stretching the length of the baggage terminal.
The long wait for a taxi also came after travelers’ flight was delayed 90 minutes due to a ground stop on flights arriving in LGA.
It is unclear why flights into the airport were stopped. has reached out to the airport and the New York Port Authority for comment.
Flight disruptions have caused a trickle-down effect across the travel industry. New Yorkers returning home from Miami, Fla. on Sunday night told they had been waiting for a cab at LaGuardia Airport for over an hour
New Yorkers should expect more airport delays Monday after disruptions were reported by Newark Liberty Airport, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy Airport.
Newark, LGA and JFK eliminated 16, nine and four percent of routes, respectively.
NYC appears to be hardest hit by Monday’s flight disruptions, followed by Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which had canceled four percent of routes as of 8 a.m.
Travelers in Boston should also prepare to spend extra time at Logan International Airport after 22 flights were canceled and 14 delayed as of Monday morning.
NYC appears to be hardest hit by Monday’s flight disruptions, followed by Atlanta. Travelers are pictured June 22 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Monday’s disruptions follow a chaos weekend that saw more than 2,000 cancellations and at least 13,000 delays between Friday and Sunday.
TSA officials screened 2,462,097 people at airport security checkpoints nationwide on Sunday, June 26, according to spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein — the highest daily number since February 11, 2020 (pre-Covid), when 2,507,588 people were screened.
“Airports are busy places, plan to arrive early,” she warned in a tweet Monday.
Delta Air Lines, United Airlines Holdings Inc and Republic Airlines Inc had over 100 cancellations every Monday, while American Airlines Group Inc canceled 51 flights nationwide.
That comes as US consumers filed more than three times as many complaints against US airlines in April as they did before the pandemic, as on-time arrivals fell, according to a Transportation Department report.
In April, major airlines recorded an on-time arrival rate of 76 percent, up from 77.2 percent in March and below the 79.8 percent rate in April 2019, the report said.
Airlines operated 566,893 flights in April, about 87 percent of the flights flown in the same month in 2019.
Since early spring, social media has been inundated with complaints from stranded passengers who have missed vacations, important events and business commitments due to flight disruptions.
Air carriers, which first cited understaffing and high travel demand during the COVID-19 pandemic as reasons for repeated disruptions, have blamed widespread flight delays on the Federal Aviation Administration
TSA officials screened 2,462,097 people at airport security checkpoints nationwide on Sunday, June 26 — the highest daily count since February 11, 2020
Traveler Brian Walsingham took to Twitter Monday morning to slam American Airlines, one of the country’s largest airlines, for delaying its flight to Dallas, Texas by 14 hours.
Hugo Acha, who was also traveling from Dallas, criticized American Airlines for delaying or canceling at least six routes booked by him and his family. He asked, “What’s the matter?”
Another passenger, Ken Domik, noted how he was prepared for longer waits at Los Angeles International Airport due to increased travel demand, so he arrived three hours early for his flight to Toronto. He ended up waiting seven hours at LAX because the flight was four hours late.
The grim stories point to a potentially busy Fourth of July holiday, according to the AAA, as over 47 million Americans are expected to travel over the holiday weekend, with 3.5 million of those travelers expected to travel by plane.
Social media has been inundated with complaints from stranded passengers who have missed vacations, important events and business commitments due to flight disruptions
Earlier this month, Buttigieg called a virtual meeting with CEOs of major US airlines to discuss thousands of recent flight cancellations and delays over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. He urged airlines to ensure they can reliably operate planned summer flight schedules.
Airlines for America, which represents the largest US airlines, said Friday it wanted to know the FAA’s staffing schedules for the July 4 holiday weekend “so that we can plan accordingly.”
The industry group’s comments could serve as a precautionary defense should airlines suffer thousands of canceled and delayed flights again over the bank holiday weekend, when travel is expected to hit new pandemic-era highs.
“The industry is actively and rapidly doing everything it can to create a positive customer experience, as it is in an airline’s intrinsic interest to keep customers happy so they return for future business,” said Nicholas Calio, president of the trade group, in a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
According to Calio, airlines have canceled 15 percent of flights originally scheduled for June through August to make remaining flights more reliable, they are hiring and training more pilots and customer service agents, and giving passengers more flexibility to change travel plans.
Calio said air travel is often disrupted “for many hours” because inclement weather causes the FAA to issue delays.
Slotnick, in reply to the letter, reiterated that air traffic control staffing issues were a “long-standing” problem that had “been made worse during the pandemic”.
“The problem is difficult to solve, but it can lead to massive travel disruptions,” he explained.
“The airlines have been reluctant to openly blame the FAA this spring, but with Sec. Buttigieg and the DOT are threatening to fine the airlines for the disruptions, it seems the airlines want to make it clear that this situation is not entirely their fault.’