Skift Take
Continuous flight cancellations in the U.S. have not hindered travelers attempting to fly from Point A to Point B. But airlines and airports aren’t winning many fans.
Dennis Schaal
The U.S. Transport Security Administration (TSA) evaluated 2.45 million air passengers on Friday, the highest day-to-day number since February 2020.
The number was however listed below the 2.73 million screened on the very same day in 2019. The high traffic was regardless of weather and staffing concerns leading to travel interruptions. On Friday, U.S. airline companies canceled 711 flights and delayed more than 6,000, according to FlightAware the other day.
U.S. tourists are already facing a challenging summer as airlines anticipate record demand and as they reconstruct personnel levels after thousands of employees left the industry during the pandemic.
A TSA spokesperson encouraged passengers to be prepared, saying on Saturday: “Get to the airport early, it’s busy!”
The Friday checkpoint traffic was the highest given that Feb. 11, 2020, when TSA evaluated nearly 2.51 million guests.
On Friday, airline industry trade group Airline companies for America (A4A) informed U.S. Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a letter that staffing difficulties were interrupting flights even in excellent weather.
It sought a conference “to discuss how we can work together to better comprehend” the Federal Air travel Administration air traffic controller staffing plan for the July 4 weekend and summer travel season.
The FAA stated it “has actually acted upon the issues raised in the letter”.
A4A stated providers had “pulled down 15% of summertime (June-August) flights relative to what they had actually prepared for at the beginning of 2022.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Pravin Char and John Stonestreet)
This post was written by David Shepardson from Reuters and was legally accredited through the Industry Dive Material Market. Please direct all licensing concerns to [e-mail protected]
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