business news

Over 2,500 flights cancelled by U.S airlines over Memorial Day weekend

Date: June 02, 2022 Meghna Singh Meghna Singh
Over 2,500 flights cancelled by U.S airlines over Memorial Day weekend 
More than 2,500 flights were reportedly canceled by U.S. airlines over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, which traditionally marks the beginning of the summer travel season in the country. The cancellations come as the airlines are still focusing on filling up flight crew vacancies after coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic travel falloff.



As per FlightAware, airlines across the globe canceled more than 1,642 on Sunday, which was followed by 1,500 more cancellations on Monday. The flight tracking website stated that about 400 U.S. flights were canceled and over 2,400 were delayed at the start of the week.



Airlines stated that the weekend's flight delays and cancellations were caused by thunderstorms in New York, Florida, the mid-Atlantic.



Recently, flights cancellations have been attributed to bad weather conditions, air traffic control issues, COVID-19 infections among employees, and other staffing issues by airlines.



While at the same time, they are working to hire additional staff to cope with summer travel demand, which is expected to be record-breaking. A total of 6.5 million passengers were recorded by the U.S. TSA during the first three days of the holiday travel period, which is just down by 10% as compared to the same period in 2019. However, the numbers showed a marked increase over the 2021 levels.



FlightAware reported that Delta Air Lines cancelled approximately 700 flights during the four-day period, including over 134 flights on Monday, which is about 4% of total scheduled flights. The airline delayed 9% of its flights on Monday.



The airline stated that, over the weekend, it had been working on the cancelling flights at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled departure time wherever possible. On Sunday, 94% of passengers were adjusted on alternate flights within 10 hours of their respective original departure time.



Delta announced Thursday that it would cut some flights over Memorial Day weekend and into early August to improve operational reliability.



American Airlines stated that a major fact behind these flight cancelations and delays were the intense thunderstorms in Miami. Over 119 American Airlines flights were canceled on Monday and 74 on Sunday, which is 2% of the scheduled. The firm also delayed 11% of its flights on Monday.



Florida is becoming a hub for an increasing number of U.S. flights. In total, about 45% of JetBlue flights go through Florida on any given day. In case of Southwest Airlines, that number tends to reach 40-50%.  



Source credit: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-airlines-cancel-2500-flights-over-memorial-holiday-weekend-2022-05-30/

About the author

View All Posts

Meghna Singh

An English Literature graduate, Meghna Singh ventured into the profession of content development to incorporate her knack for writing articles across verticals including technology, healthcare, business, and alike for News Origins and Newsorigins. She has also completed her MBA in Tourism and worked as a content creator in the field of product development.