The weekend’s travel chaos did not let up on Monday as major airlines continued to cancel and delay many of their scheduled flights – even as airline executives continue to defend the industry.
On Monday morning, more than 750 flights were delayed within, or coming into or exiting the United States, and over 270 were canceled, according to Flight Aware.
New York City-area airports Newark International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport faced the most delays and cancelations in the United States, followed by major hub Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, more than 200 flights were delayed and more than 60 were canceled early Monday morning at Logan International Airport in Boston and Los Angeles International Airport saw 12 flights canceled and 49 were delayed.
One passenger, PGA manager Mattie-Lou Chandler, even reported that her flight was canceled a total of three times from Jacksonville International Airport in Florida on Monday alone.
Matt Hudson, a former Congressman from Florida, also posted a photo of large lines at a Delta check-in, writing: ‘Hey @Delta, didn’t you know we were coming? #Pathetic We were supposed to leave yesterday!!!’
Since Thursday, almost 20,000 flights have been canceled or delayed, according to UPI, with more than 8,000 flights canceled or delayed on Sunday alone.
‘This has been another travel Armageddon weekend,’ InteleTravel President James Ferrara told USA Today. ‘But it’s not isolated or really a surprise.
‘We’re in a boom time for travel,’ he explained. ‘We’re blowing away all records all previous years, so you’ve got this surge in demand, and you’ve got limitations on staffing.’
Air carriers allege the demand for travel has soared to pre-pandemic levels, yet staffing remains strained after mass COVID-19 fueled layoffs.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) data revealed the number of people flying on Friday and Saturday nearly equaled the same number of those who flew on the same days in 2019.
Meantime, the ongoing trends of frustrated travelers and high number of cancellations has pushed Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to tell airline executives to clean up their act and avoid another flying catastrophe before July 4.
But airline executives say they are doing the best they can to meet the surging demand, saying the travel chaos is limited and admitting that the industry is ‘rusty.’
Former Florida Rep Matt Hudson tweeted on Monday that he was supposed to depart the day before, amid long lines at Delta’s check-in.
PGA Manager Mattie-Lou Chandler also tweeted that her flights were canceled a total of three times on Monday morning.
Travel chaos continued across the United States on Monday, as more than 750 flights were delayed and over 270 were canceled.
It followed a weekend of massive cancelations and delays, with almost 20,000 flights canceled or delayed since Thursday.
The travel chaos over the weekend has left dozens of Delta passengers stranded at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for more than 24 hours, and online, many people called out the airlines for waiting on customer service lines for hours.
Those lucky enough to board their flights have cited long waits on the tarmac, including one traveler flying into New York City who claimed he was stuck on a plane for more than 90 minutes after landing.
One mother also claimed over the weekend that an unidentified woman ‘had a heart attack in front of [her son] after running to a new gate’ at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport on Friday.
Two television meteorologists also used their Twitter platforms to discuss the hardships they faced, with Nathan Scott, who works at KTHV in Little Rock, Arkansas, sharing how he and his new bride were rapped at Delta’s hub in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday night before their flight was ultimately canceled.
Similarly, in a series of tweets over the weekend, Shel Winkley, a meteorologist for KBTX News, shared how he struggled to arrive at – and later get home from – an American Meteorological Society Broadcast Conference in Milwaukee.
He wrote that he first faced a four-hour delay from Dallas-Fort Worth to General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee last Monday and after he arrived in the area, a large storm was slamming the city and the flight had to land in Madison, Wisconsin until the storm passed.
That would have been enough for the traveling meteorologist, but as he tried to head home on Friday, his flight scheduled to leave at 5.30pm started getting pushed back to 7pm and he was eventually told there was a malfunction on the plane – delaying it until the next morning.
In total, his flights were canceled and delayed a total of six times – and he even had to travel to Chicago O’Hare airport in hopes of getting a flight from there.
Eventually, Winkley even had to sleep at the Chicago O’Hare airport and decided to travel to Austin instead of his home in the Dallas area.
New mother Brooke Osborne also echoed the complaints, saying that she was running out of diapers and formula for her 11-month-old daughter, Carson, as her flight was delayed.
‘We’ve just been giving her more food throughout the day and less bottles since all of her formula is in our checked bag, which is in Omaha,’ she told the local outlet.
And disabled US Army veteran Joe Reis told 11 Alive that the delays and cancellations have kept him from returning home from his honeymoon and accessing the charger for his hearing aids, which is in his hold bag.
‘Instead of it being a happy honeymoon, it became a very miserable plane ride waiting for this hell hole to let us finally leave,’ Reis said, adding that he had to sleep on the floor on Saturday. ‘I have to rely on hearing aids, and so my charging port is actually in my bag in Omaha.’
Source: Daily Mail
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