The day after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with airline leaders to quiz them about widespread flight disruptions, his own flight was canceled and he wound up driving from Washington to New York. “That is happening to a lot of people, and that is exactly why we are paying close attention here to what can be done and how to…
Travel is back. On Friday, more than 2.4 million people passed through security checkpoints at U.S. airports, coming within about 12,500 of breaking the pandemic-era high recorded on the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year.
The record surely would have been broken had airlines not canceled 1,400 flights, many of them because thunderstorms hit parts of the East Coast. A day earlier, airlines scrubbed more than 1,700 flights, according to tracking service FlightAware. Weather is always a wild card when it comes to flying in summer, but airlines have also acknowledged staffing shortages as travel roared back faster than expected from pandemic lows. Airlines are scrambling to hire pilots and other workers to replace employees whom they encouraged to quit after the pandemic hit.
It takes months to hire and train a pilot to meet federal safety standards, but the Transportation Department sees no reason the airlines cannot immediately add customer-service representatives to help passengers rebook if their flight is canceled.Shortages at the Federal Aviation Administration, part of Buttigieg's department, have contributed to flight delays in Florida. The FAA promises to increase staffing there.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: US may act against airlines on consumers' behalfTransportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he's pushing airlines to hire more customer-service agents and take other steps to help travelers this summer.
Read more »
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: US may act against airlines on consumers' behalfFLIGHT CANCELLATIONS: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he's pushing airlines to hire more customer-service agents and take other steps to help travelers this summer.
Read more »
Buttigieg: US may act against airlines on consumers' behalfTransportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he's pushing airlines to hire more customer-service agents and take other steps to help travelers this summer
Read more »
Buttigieg: US may act against airlines on consumers' behalfTransportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he's pushing airlines to hire more customer-service agents and take other steps to avoid travel woes this summer. Buttigieg wants the airlines to stress-test their schedules amid a spate of flight cancellations.
Read more »
U.S. weighing penalizing airlines if flight disruptions continue: ButtigiegTransportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the AP that the department may penalize airlines if flight disruptions continue. Those disruptions have been caused by staffing shortages and weather.
Read more »