After severe thunderstorms swept through its Dallas/Fort Worth International hub on Monday, American Airlines faced hundreds of cancellations and delays.
Since Sunday afternoon more than 500 flights — 17 percent of American’s scheduled mainline flights — have been canceled, according to FlightAware. In the meantime, 854 additional flights were canceled due to delays. American Airlines canceled 283 flights and delayed 947 others on Sunday, according to the company’s website. Approximately 80 American flights were diverted to other airports on Sunday owing to weather conditions.
Customer service wait times and delays were common complaints on social media. Dallas Fort/Worth International Airport had a ground stop earlier in the day.
“Mother nature isn’t playing nicely and many flights in and out DFW are delayed or cancelled,, American Airlines tweeted to a customer on Sunday.
Airlines often cancel thousands of flights in advance of hurricanes and blizzards to prevent passengers and crews from becoming stranded at airports. In addition to causing rolling delays, thunderstorms can be more disruptive to passengers and airlines alike.
As a result of the pandemic last year, airlines were forced to offer buyouts or leave of absence to employees in order to reduce labor costs.
Since February 28, 2020, the TSA has screened 2.24 million people.
An American Airlines spokeswoman said the delays at DFW were caused by weather and air traffic constraints. According to an internal list reviewed by CNBC, at least 30 of the cancellations were due to crew shortages.
U.S. Airways had cut its July 1 schedule by about 1 percent because of weather and other disruptions as well as staffing issues.
As a result, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have restored more capacity than the airline.
Last month, American’s president, Robert Isom, said, “We expect to fly a larger domestic network at DFW this August than we did in August of 2019.”
Because of the increase in capacity, analysts told CNBC that there is little room for error when there are disruptions.
According to the Transportation Department, airlines are not required to provide hotel accommodations or food vouchers for travelers whose flights are canceled.
Henry Harteveldt, founder of travel industry consulting firm Atmosphere Research Group and a former airline executive, says passengers understand that airlines cannot control the weather.
Nearly a third of Southwest Airlines’ daily schedule was delayed or canceled on Monday. It was thunderstorms from Sunday that were responsible for the cancellations on Monday, according to the airline.
Following a day of cancellations of more than 200 flights, Spirit Airlines cancelled 304 flights on Monday, according to FlightAware.
Nearly a third of Southwest Airlines’ daily schedule was delayed or canceled on Monday. It was thunderstorms from Sunday that were responsible for the cancellations on Monday, according to the airline.
Following a day of cancellations of more than 200 flights, Spirit Airlines cancelled 304 flights on Monday, according to FlightAware.
“We’re working around the clock to get back on track in the wake of some travel disruptions over the weekend due to a series of operational challenges,” the airline said in a statement. “We understand how frustrating it is for our Guests when plans change unexpectedly, and we’re working to find solutions. We ask Guests to actively monitor their emails and flight status before heading to the airport.”
Source: cnbc.com