Photo: DAVID ZALUBOSKI/AP PHOTO/PICTURE ALLIANCE / Deutsche Welle
More than 3,500 flights were canceled in the United States at the start of the Memorial Day “bridge” los Caídos), one of the busiest weekends of the year, as a result of bad weather and lack of staff, reported this Saturday (28..2022) sources of the sector.
On Saturday more than 1,500 flights were canceled until 9: 50 pm, according to flight tracking website FlightAware . Added to this are the more than 2,300 cancellations on Friday.
Delta Air Lines had the most cancellations among US airlines, with more than 80 flights, or 9% of its operations, on Saturday. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where Delta is headquartered and its largest hub, was hit hard by travel delays. On Saturday, 5% of flights there were cancelled, while 7% were delayed.
Bad weather in several areas of the country, together with the lack of personnel in some airports and airlines, are considered the main reason for the high number of canceled flights.
Low staff and heavy traffic
On Friday, the Federal Administration (FAA, for its acronym in English) warned that many of the largest airports in the country were experiencing limitations in takeoffs and landings due to the lack of personnel and the high volumes of traffic.
The situation occurs despite the fact that several airlines had already reduced flights for the summer, precisely to avoid difficulties due to not having enough employees to guarantee their usual frequencies.
Delta said in an email to The Associated Press that Saturday’s cancellations were due to They were due to bad weather and “air traffic control actions”, noting that it is trying to cancel flights with at least 24 hours early this Memorial Day weekend.
Many forecasts assume traveler numbers will match or even exceed old-time levels pre-pandemic However, airlines have thousands fewer employees than in 2019, and this has at times contributed to widespread flight cancellations.
Memorial Day, which falls next Monday, unofficially marks the start of the summer season in the United States and is traditionally one of the busiest weekends of the year.