July Fourth holiday flights: Disruptions continue, United struggles

Flight delays and cancellations continued to bedevil thousands of travelers on the Fourth of July, Friday United Airlines Passengers bear the brunt of the problems.

The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 17.7 million people from June 29 through July 5, peaking on Friday at more than 2.8 million people. This would be a record for one day for daily checks and one of the clearest signs yet of air travel’s strong recovery from the Covid pandemic.

More than 4,800 US flights were delayed on Friday, though United was delayed more than competitors.

By 5 p.m. Friday, the airline had canceled more than 230 major flights, 8% of its operations, while more than 790 flights, or more than a quarter of its schedule, had been delayed, according to FlightAware flight tracker.

That was still far less than Thursday’s disruptions and a marked improvement from last weekend when a series of thunderstorms along the East Coast caused chaos at some of the nation’s busiest airports. Some airline executives have blamed the FAA’s lack of air traffic controllers for exacerbating problems for their customers.

Customers were spread out throughout the week on airport floors, waiting hours for flight information or new schedules, with seats scarce on other flights, or other airlines. They also faced long lines for customer service and lost bags.

Even the CEO of United Airlines couldn’t get a seat from the New York area. On Wednesday, Scott Kirby took a private plane from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Denver, Colorado.

A spokeswoman for the airline told CNBC that United did not pay for his flight. Kirby apologized to staff and passengers on Friday for boarding the private jet when several others were stranded.

“Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to go home,” Kirby said in a statement to CNBC. “I sincerely apologize to our customers and team members who have worked around the clock for days – often due to inclement weather – to take care of our customers.

He continued, “Watching our team live with our customers at four different airports and through countless meetings this week, it is clear to me that they represent the best of United and I am sorry I was distracted by their professionalism.” “I pledge to better show my respect for the dedication of our team members and the loyalty of our customers.”

United said on Friday afternoon that their performance has been improving at the weekend. The airline is offering waivers to affected passengers so that they can rebook their flights without paying the fare difference.

But she also warned: “Storms in Denver, Chicago and the East Coast will continue to be a challenge, but most of today’s cancellations were done in advance to give customers time to adjust.”

Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday called on United to address the challenges over the past week, saying the airline’s disruptions were “high but moving in the right direction”.

Airlines are under political and public pressure to operate reliably after their overambitious schedules and understaffing exacerbate routine challenges such as bad weather. The struggles come as travel demand is bouncing back from its post-pandemic lows.

More storm surges and challenges such as wildfire smoke from Canada are likely to plague airlines in the coming days, though the worst of the turbulence this week has mostly subsided. (Of course, if your flight is canceled or delayed, here’s what airlines owe you.)

More than 42,000 flights operated by US airlines have been delayed from Saturday to Thursday, and more than 7,900 flights have been canceled entirely, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. More than 5% of US schedules have been cancelled, which is nearly four times the cancellation rate so far this year.

Over the six-period period, half of United’s mainline flights arrived late, with the average delay being 106 minutes, according to FlightAware data. Another 19% of its schedule was canceled.

Union leaders blamed some of the problems on United, whose crews were stranded with passengers during the disturbances. Flight disruptions often cause overwork because aircrews and aircraft are off-site, and long delays can cause them to reach federally mandated work limits.

United offers flight attendants triple pay for shifts during the peak holiday period.

Ken Diaz, president of the United Chapter of the Flight Attendants Association, said in a statement Thursday. “The airline has already lost crews in the system for days on end because there has been such a major breakdown in operation management.”

Garth Thompson, United’s captain and president of the United branch of the Airline Pilots Association, accused the company of not investing in the operation.

“Traveling in the summer can be challenging, but this summer will be unnecessarily memorable,” he said. “For those of you who fell into easy management errors, I am truly sorry.”

Both unions are engaged in contract negotiations with the company and are seeking compensation and scheduling improvements.

United CEO Kirby wrote Monday to employees that some of the problems last weekend stemmed from an air traffic controller shortage, and said that “the FAA frankly failed us” when it lowered arrival and departure rates at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport, the United Hub.

The FAA warned of staff shortages in the New York City area earlier this year, and some airlines have agreed to reduce capacity to avoid overloading the system.

“This has resulted in significant delays, cancellations, and diversions, as well as crews and aircraft being out of position,” Kirby wrote in the staff memo, which was seen by CNBC. “And that put everyone behind the eight-ball when the weather really hit on Sunday and was exacerbated by a shortage of FAA staff on Sunday night.”

JetBlue has also blamed the FAA for similar issues.

“We are working with the FAA to better understand what led to significant and unexpected air traffic control restrictions this week that affected thousands of flights across carriers,” JetBlue’s chief operating officer, Joanna Geraghty, said in a note to employees Wednesday. “The intensity and length of recent programs have been worse than what we’ve seen in the past with similar weather, and this has left tens of thousands of our customers upset and, in many cases, blaming JetBlue for a situation beyond our control.”