
In addition, the chronically underfunded FAA is also struggling to replace outdated technology. The FAA warns that a significant shortage of air traffic controllers overseeing the very congested New York area airspace could increase flight delays into and out of Newark, LaGuardia and JFK airports by 45% this summer. While the Biden administration is turning up the heat on the airlines to fulfill their obligations to passengers, the airlines are growing frustrated with the federal government's own aviation shortcomings. Airlines say they're better prepared nowĪn American Airlines Airbus A319 airplane takes off past the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., in January.
#Delta book flight over phone software
With planes and flight crews out of place and too few replacements available, it would take some airlines a week or more to get caught up from one series of thunderstorms.Īdd to that a new pilot training backlog, and shortages of mechanics, maintenance workers, gate agents and customer service staff, along with technology glitches and outdated scheduling software at some airlines, and it all cascaded into several periods over the last year in which hundreds of thousands of would be travelers were stranded, the worst of which was over the Christmas holiday, when Southwest alone had to cancel 17,000 flights. Many tried to cash in with aggressive scheduling, but the staff was stretched too thin to meet that demand, especially during severe weather, which led flight crews to time out without fresh crew members to replace them. Then air travel demand returned much more quickly than airlines expected. Long lines and packed planes starting this weekendīusiness The latest workers calling for a better quality of life: airline pilotsĮven though taxpayers shelled out $50 billion to keep airlines in business and pilots, flight attendants and other employees on the payrolls during the pandemic, airlines offered early retirements and other incentives for workers, including experienced flight crews and ground crews, to leave.

If you're among those hoping to jet off to somewhere fun this summer, here's what you can expect. The coming months are likely to be a "stress test" for a national aviation system plagued by recent staffing shortages, antiquated technology, air traffic control problems, scheduling issues and labor disputes.Īfter widespread flight delays and cancellations last year, consumer advocates and some within the travel industry worry air travelers could face similar disruptions that will mess up their summer travel plans again. airlines could carry a record number of passengers this summer, even though they're still operating fewer flights than before the pandemic. Industry projections indicate that despite relatively high airfares, U.S. Memorial Day weekend is upon us, kicking off the busy summer vacation season, and airlines are forecasting that this could be their busiest summer ever. This summer is expected to be a record for air travel. If you've been using KAYAK successfully up until now, try closing your browser and starting again.Travelers line up to check in for United Airlines flights at San Francisco International Airport on Jin San Francisco, Calif. Please send us a message and we'll try to figure out what went wrong. Probably something about the web browser you are using made KAYAK think you are a bot. They tend to try to cram large suitcases in the overhead bin, and they prattle on about celebrities they know while you are trying to watch the movie. For example, we don't want bots running about trying to book airline tickets.

Bots are generally a good thing, but some web pages are for humans only. KAYAK uses bots to search for travel deals. Search engines like Google use robots to build up search results. What is a bot?Ī bot, or robot, or crawler is software that visits web sites and collects data from them without a human present. If you are seeing this page, it means that KAYAK thinks you are a "bot," and the page you were trying to get to is only useful for humans.
