Staffing shortage causes hundreds of cancellations as post-pandemic travel catches airlines off guard

Jun 21, 2021

Alex Peebles Reporter

By Alex Peebles (Reporter), Ben Burke (Producer), Ryan Tiedgen (Editor)

A staffing shortage is a main factor behind hundreds of American Airlines cancellations over the past few days.

As of 12:30 p.m. EDT, 134 American flights had been canceled Monday.

Cancellations topped 100 on Sunday and Saturday as well.

On Sunday, American said it would cancel around 1 percent of its flights in July.

The airline said unprecedented weather has caused multi-hour delays over the past few weeks, disrupting flight and crew working hours.

American also said it is dealing with labor shortages at some of its hub airports.

The cancellations reflect the stress a sharp increase in air travel demand has put on airlines.

According to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, nearly 50 million airport passengers were registered in May. That’s up 19 percent from April.

Travelers are on pace to beat May’s numbers in June.

Gwen Baumgardner: HUNDREDS OF FLIGHTS ARE BEING CANCELLED BY A MAJOR AIRLINE — AND EXPECT CANCELLATIONS TO CONTINUE INTO THE COMING WEEKS!
THIS IS WHAT THE FLIGHT TRACKING WEBSITE “FLIGHT AWARE” LOOKED LIKE THIS MORNING.
[HIGHLIGHT AMERICAN AIRLINES SECTION]
MORE THAN 100 AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHTS FOR TODAY ARE BEING SCRAPPED…
MAKING IT THE 3RD STRAIGHT DAY OF BIG CANCELLATIONS.
A SPOKESPERSON FOR AMERICAN AIRLINES SAYS JUST UNDER 1-THOUSAND FLIGHTS WILL BE CANCELLED THROUGH EARLY JULY.
IT’S DUE TO COVID CUTBACKS, AS THE AIRLINE DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE TO STAFF ITS PLANES…AND MEET THE RISING FLIGHT DEMAND.
CHYRON: TSA: NEARLY 50M PASSED THROUGH AIRPORTS LAST MONTH]
T-S-A SAYS NEAR 50 MILLION PASSENGERS PASSED THROUGH AIRPORTS LAST MONTH. AND JUNE NUMBERS ARE EXPECTED TO BE EVEN HIGHER.