The holiday rush is underway — nearly 48 million Americans hit the roads or head to the airports on the Fourth of July weekend. Cancellations pile up again, like US airlines They strive to serve their customers.
The TSA reported that more than 2 million people passed through airport checkpoints on most days this month as air traffic approached pre-pandemic levels. But Airlines struggle to keep up. Since Memorial Day, airlines have canceled more than 21,000 flights – twice the price of last year.
In an effort to offset some of these problems, Envoy and Piedmont, two regional carriers of American Airlines, are offering pilots up to three times the pay to pick up extra shifts. Earlier this year, United and Delta announced cuts to the July schedule. Now, some Delta pilots are doing sit-ups.
“The problem is that they’re trying to work by responding to the demand, but they can’t respond to their claim that there’s no staff available to support it,” said Peter Greenberg, CBS News’ senior travel advisor.
Delta also takes an extraordinary step Exemption from all change fees until Mondaysaying it expects “operational challenges” over the weekend.
Travelers who choose to drive rather than fly will face high prices at the pump. The national average is down since it topped $5 a gallon two weeks ago, but it’s still up at $4.86 – $1.75 more than a year ago.
The potential chaos at the airport is too great, Farrukh Krani told CBS News transportation correspondent Errol Barnett.
And they said, “The planes are full. You have a delay.. God help you if you have a delay.” “I am now a committed driver, at least until things get better, you know, to be able to make flying comfortable again.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CBS News that his agency deals with airlines every day to be more reliable. Today, the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) held a meeting to discuss their “shared commitment to reduce disruption and provide a safe and efficient flight for all travelers.”
Errol Barnett
