American Air cancels 460 flights amid bad weather

Bloomberg

American Airlines Group Inc cancelled 460 flights after weather conditions affected its staffing needs. The cancellations made up 9% of its mainline and regional flights, it said. With two days of severe weather at its Dallas-Fort Worth hub, its arrival capacity was cut by more than half, it said. The weather conditions also meant it could use just two runways instead of five, it added.
“With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences,” American said in an emailed statement, adding that “these few days to close out October will be challenging” where it “proactively” cancelled some flights to adjust to staffing shortfall.
Most customers affected were rebooked on the same day, it added. The Wall Street Journal reported the cancellations earlier. Air travel is picking up fast following more than a year of Covid-19 restrictions. Airline passenger numbers in the US totaled 1.93 million last week, more than twice the 873,636 figure on the same weekday a year earlier, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The Biden administration issued new rules for travellers to the US, requiring proof of full vaccination against Covid-19 in addition to a recent negative test for the virus. The move taking effect from November 8 represent the biggest change to US travel policy since the start of the pandemic.
FlightAware data showed American cancelled 487 flights over the weekend, close to a fifth of its trips. An additional 299 were delayed.