Flight cancellations, delays in US top 6,000 on storms

Bloomberg

Just a day after airline executives met with US transportation officials on how to stem flight disruptions, a band of storms triggered thousands of cancellations and delays for
beleaguered carriers.
More than 6,000 flights were late or scrubbed altogether as of 4:25 pm ET, according to tracking website FlightAware. That comes on top of more than 1,700 cancellations and another 8,800 delays in the US, FlightAware said.
A line of storms stretched from Mississippi to Virginia, gumming up flights at large hubs in Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington, DC and New York. At the same time, airline staffing woes as carriers rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic have made it more difficult to respond to bad weather, leaving carriers with fewer reserve crews.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had a conference call with airline chiefs, reminding them of the need to do all they can to reduce impacts from delays, said a government official familiar with the discussion who asked not to be identified.
The Federal Aviation Administration is trying to add air-traffic controllers at facilities that have seen the biggest traffic increases, such as its control center in Jacksonville, Florida. Most airports in Florida are reporting an increase in flights compared to pre-pandemic
levels, according to FAA.
“Like almost every industry across the economy, airlines are adapting to labour shortages, supply chain dynamics and other pandemic related challenges,” trade group Airlines for America wrote in a letter to US lawmakers dated June 10.
Overall passenger totals remain about 12% below 2019, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg ended up driving from Washington to New York after his flight was canceled, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
“That is happening to a lot of people, and that is exactly why we are paying close attention here to what can be done and how to make sure that the airlines are delivering,” Buttigieg said.
Calmer weather allowed the system to return closer to normal. Aside from airports in central Florida, the rest of the nation was recording below-average delays, according to FlightAware.
The Federal Aviation Administration has authority over consumer protections, such as rules governing refunds for canceled flights. But there is no prohibition for typical delays, most
of which are at least partly the result of weather.
Record Heat to Bake the Central US
Record heat will sear the central US and there is a potential for fast-moving thunderstorms to sweep down from the Great Lakes and across the Ohio Valley later as well.
Nearly 70 cities could post record overnight temperatures across the Midwest and central US, reports said.