Airlines were scrambling on Wednesday to save their summer schedules amid the fifth day of massive nationwide delays and cancelations, ahead of the Fourth of July travel rush.
Travelers at airports across the country faced misery on Wednesday as almost 30,000 flights were delayed, and 2,000 canceled – with scores of passengers left stranded.
The problem will likely get worse before it gets better: Thursday will be the busiest day of the holiday weekend, with 52,500 flights scheduled.
United was the worst affected airline on Wednesday: a quarter of all their flights, almost 700, were canceled and nearly half were delayed
Newark was the hardest-hit airport, with Chicago, LaGuardia, Houston and Denver also badly affected: the misery will continue for several days as airlines attempt to rectify the backlog.
A traveler checks the departure board at Los Angeles’ LAX airport on Wednesday, amid widespread delays and cancelations
Long lines of people are seen waiting to check in for flights at LAX on Wednesday, amid staffing shortages at airlines and the FAA
Travelers use their electronic devices while lying on the floor of the departures area of Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport
A woman in Austin International Airport hunkered down as flight chaos continues
The ‘Misery Map’ produced by Flight Aware on Wednesday showed that Denver, Chicago, New York-area and
Huge crowds, bad weather, inability of some airline crews to reach their scheduling offices – even a Delta jet that made a belly landing in Charlotte, North Carolina – all contributed to the mess.
Staffing shortages among airlines and among the Federal Aviation Administration also caused chaos.
Despite $54 billion of taxpayer funds funneled into airlines to keep them afloat during the pandemic, most airlines greatly reduced staff numbers and have found it harder than expected to rehire workers. Many older employees accepted early retirement, while others accepted buyouts and have found new, less demanding work.
On Tuesday, Tia Hudson was back at Newark Liberty International Airport for the fourth straight day, trying to catch a United Airlines flight home to Louisiana.
‘My flight has been canceled like five times now. I slept at the airport two nights, I booked two hotels, I spent over $700 since I’ve been here and they said they’re not going to reimburse me because it’s weather-related,’ she said.
‘It’s not weather-related. It’s a shortage of pilots and attendants.’
Hudson missed her mother’s wedding and caused her mother to skip her own honeymoon to pick up Tia at the airport near Dallas – only for the flight to be canceled.
On top of that, Hudson’s bags were lost.
The emergency belly landing of a Delta flight in Charlotte did not help nationwide delays
The flight landed ‘smoothly’ with 96 passengers on board, all of whom were unharmed
Social media was also awash with complaints, with United receiving the sternest criticism.
‘So my family and I traveled to NYC for a beautiful sweet 16 party for my niece,’ said Zamora Ford.
‘While we enjoyed every moment of the weekend we expected our trip to come to a end by Monday… well the airline had other plans.
‘So it’s now 2 days later and we are still here.
‘These airlines really suck for the thousands of cancellations that took place this week. Our flight’s were canceled 2xs in 2 days.’
David Parke from Denver missed a once-in-a-lifetime Diana Ross concert thanks to the cancelations.
‘My partner and I booked First Class seats to see DIANA ROSS at Radio City Thursday night and now I can only HATE ON YOU for this (rarely do use this word)!
‘My lifetime dream to see this living legend in NYC crushed for reasons I don’t believe.’
He added: ‘I’m sorry DIANA, perhaps I’ll see you in my dreams!’
One flight attendant working with United warned people to try and delay their plans
United was the worst affected airline in the United States on Wednesday
Lonnie Pearo and his wife, who are both in their 70s, described being stranded at Seattle airport for three days awaiting a flight to Chicago.
‘Service has been terrible trying to reschedule. They do not seem to care. Running out of money and options,’ he said.
Pearo then updated his post to say they had hired a car, at a cost of $1,000, to drive from Seattle to Portland and attempt to fly from there.
He said Seattle airport was a disastrous site, with ‘babies and handicapped sleeping on floors; grown people crying; elderly losing their dream trips to Hawaii and beyond.’
He added: ‘Watched continual lies by United employees. Total shame.’
Regina Ramirez Aleman said she was devastated by her family’s ‘much anticipated summer vacation’ becoming a nightmare.
Her party were separated by the airline and rebooked, meaning her husband had to fly without her.
She was unable to get a refund for the hotels in Hawaii, as the flights were canceled too late.
And flights this week are now priced at over $3,000 each.
‘It’s disheartening when such last-minute disruptions overshadow meticulous planning and time off work,’ she said.
‘We hope that United Airlines can address this situation promptly, rectifying the inconveniences caused and helping salvage what’s left of our 4th of July vacation plans. It would be nice if we could get someone on the phone!’
United accepted they had been struggling, but said they hoped the worst was over.
‘We’re beginning to see improvement across our operation,’ United said in a statement Wednesday night.
‘As our operation improves in the days ahead, we will be on track to restore our operation for the holiday weekend.’
The JFK departure area on Wednesday, five days in the ‘flightmare’ that has stranded thousands and thousands of US travelers
One United steward wrote on social media: ‘If you can avoid flying right now, please do.’
The anonymous worker continued: ‘I’m a flight attendant with United.
‘Your flight will be delayed or cancelled. There is not enough staff to support operations right now.
‘Don’t do It unless you want to be stuck.
‘They are stranding their flight attendants and pilots everywhere with no response in random cities.’
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes the FAA, has been criticizing the airlines for more than a year.
He has accused them of failing to live up to reasonable standards of customer service and suggested that they are scheduling more flights than they can handle.
The airlines have denied that they are to blame, and instead are pointing the finger at federal authorities.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby blamed a shortage of federal air traffic controllers for massive disruptions last weekend at its Newark hub.
‘We estimate that over 150,000 customers on United alone were impacted this weekend because of FAA staffing issues and their ability to manage traffic,’ Kirby wrote in a memo to employees on Monday night.
One furious flyer accused United of ‘treating customers with utmost contempt and disregard.’
The passenger wrote online: ‘Oh, and the online system is down. All gate agents refuse to help. This was caused by flight crew not showing up, which led to delays. Before getting on the flight we tried to handle the situation and they refused.
‘This is the worst experience I’ve ever had with any company.’
A line snakes through Newark on Tuesday of customers attempting to rebook flights and figure out accommodations following cancelations
One third of flights out of LaGuardia were canceled Tuesday, after facing mass delays and cancelations Monday as well
The FAA signaled earlier this year that it could struggle to keep flights moving in New York, the busiest airspace in the nation.
Facing a severe shortage of air traffic controllers at a key facility on Long Island, the FAA persuaded airlines to trim their summer schedules to avoid overloading the system.
The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents United’s cabin crews, said United was contributing to the situation.
The union said employees were waiting three hours or longer when calling a crew-scheduling center for assignments because of ‘limited telephone lines and personnel.’
Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, where American and Southwest are based, took the airlines’ side in a series of tweets about delays at the New York City area’s three big airports.
‘Staffing at FAA’s air traffic facilities in NY is at 54%,’ Cruz tweeted. ‘Yet (the Transportation Department) is blaming weather for delays. Nonsense.’
A Transportation Department spokesperson said the agency is working with airlines to fix things, but the combination of high traffic and bad weather reduces the rate at which planes can take off and land safely, leading to delays and canceled flights.
The FAA is training about 3,000 new air traffic controllers, but most of them won’t be ready anytime soon.
Last week, the Transportation Department’s inspector general said in a report that the FAA has made only ‘limited efforts’ to adequately staff critical air traffic control centers and lacks a plan to tackle the problem.
Last week, Buttigieg issued a new warning to airlines, telling them that planes that aren’t outfitted with new radio altimeters — devices that measure the height of a plane above the ground — won’t be allowed to operate in limited visibility starting this Saturday because of potential interference from new 5G wireless service.
American, United, Southwest, Alaska and Frontier say all of their planes have been retrofitted, but Delta Air Lines still has about 190 planes waiting to be updated because its supplier doesn’t have enough altimeters.
Delta said it will schedule those planes to avoid landing where the weather might be bad to limit disruptions.
Smaller airlines that operate regional flights could also be affected by the radio interference issue, as could flights operated to the United States by foreign carriers.
