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American Airlines cancels over 300 flights due to staff shortfall

Date: June 22, 2021 Sunil Jha Sunil Jha
American Airlines cancels over 300 flights due to staff shortfall 
American Airlines is reportedly canceled more than 300 flights this weekend owing to staffing shortages. According to reports, the airline cut its overall flight schedule by approximately 1% in the first weeks of July because of bad weather in the South as well as some other issues.



The airline stated through a statement that the cut will minimize any unexpected shocks at the airport.  



The early weeks of June brought over extraordinary weather conditions across some of the airline’s biggest hubs, wreaking havoc on its operations and resulting in delays, canceled flights, and disruptions to crewmember schedules and customers' plans, the statement further added.



This, coupled with the staffing shortages at some of the airline’s vendors, and an extremely sharp increase in customer demand, has forced the airline to incorporate further resilience and assurance to its operation by modifying a small portion of its our planned flights until mid-July, statement continued.



The flights that were cancelled last weekend also reflected a modest portion of the airline's entire schedule.



According to reports, the 123 flights that were canceled on Saturday accounted for 4% of all flights. Meanwhile, 180 flights were canceled on Sunday, but the airline told news networks that this represented just 3% of its total flights, including those run by regional carriers.



Supposedly, half of Sunday's flights were canceled due to crew issues, but no such ratio was given regarding Saturday's flights. Other factors, such as maintenance, might have resulted in the cancellation of scheduled voyages.



View from the Wing, a travel industry news site, originally reported the cancellations. The website also stated that the cancellations come as the airline seeks to bring inactive pilots back in the air after their coronavirus pandemic slowdowns.



The airline was unable to lay off any employees after obtaining government stimulus funds. However, American is still only about halfway to reactivating inactive pilots, who must first complete a five-day training course before entering a cockpit again.



Source credits: https://nypost.com/2021/06/20/american-airlines-cancels-hundreds-of-flights-over-staffing-shortage/

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Sunil Jha

Sunil Jha has been a part of the content industry for close to two years. Having previously worked as a voice over artist and sportswriter, he now focuses on writing articles for newsorigins.com, across a slew of topics, ranging from technology to trade and finance. With a business-oriented educational background, Sunil brings forth the expertise of deep-dive research and a strategic approach in his write ups.