Airlines in the United States that have stumbled badly over the past two holidays face their biggest test yet of whether they can handle large crowds when Fourth of July travelers pack the nation’s airports this weekend.
The problems appeared well before the weekend, with some interruptions caused by thunderstorms that slowed down air traffic.
American Airlines canceled 8% of its flights on Tuesday and Wednesday, and United Airlines removed 4% of its programming on both days, according to Flight Aware.
Travelers planning to drive face their own set of challenges, including high gas prices. The national average has dipped from a record high of $5.02 in mid-June to $4.86 a gallon on Thursday, according to AAA, which expects prices to fall further due to rising gasoline inventories.
Americans are driving a little less. Gasoline demand last week was down about 3% from the same week last June, according to government figures. In a Quinnipiac University survey conducted in June, 40% of respondents said gas prices had caused them to change their summer vacation plans.
Air travel in the US is almost back to pre-pandemic levels. Since last Saturday, an average of nearly 2.3 million people a day have passed through airport checkpoints, just 8% less than the same days in 2019. If that trend continues through the weekend, records will be set to fly in the era of the pandemic.
Airlines may not have enough planes and flights to carry them all, especially if there are cancellations due to weather, crew shortages, or any other reason.
“Airlines are learning the hard way that over-optimism comes at a high price,” said Joseph Schwieterman, a transportation expert at DePaul University. “They are on the edge of a precipice this holiday season.”
Schwieterman reckons airlines have little cushion between the number of travelers expected to fly this weekend and the flights they plan to operate, if all goes well. Any disruption could cause chaos because the planes are full: there will be no empty seats on later flights to accommodate stranded travelers.
Airlines are short-staffed and trying to hire thousands of workers, including pilots, to replace those they encouraged to quit when the pandemic sent air travel into a tailspin.
Many of them, including Delta, Southwest Y JetBlue, have cut summer hours to reduce stress on their operations. They are using larger planes on average to carry more passengers with the same number of pilots. Those steps have not been enough so far this summer.
Delta Airlines took the unusual step this week of warning travelers that there could be trouble over the holiday weekend.
The Atlanta-based airline said it expects the largest crowds since 2019, and this will create “some operational challenges.” It is allowing passengers who booked flights between Friday and Bank Holiday Monday to change their schedule at no cost, even if the new flight comes with a higher fare.
“The people of Delta is working around the clock to rebuild Delta’s operation while making it as resilient as possible to minimize the ripple effect of disruptions,” the airline said.
[Con información de The Associated Press]
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