‘Took us 96 hours to reach India,’ Flyer on how US flight disruptions threatening summer travel plans
Widespread delays at US airports due to thunderstorms and FAA staffing issues raise concerns for the upcoming July 4 holiday. United Airlines hit hardest.
Widespread delays hit US airports this week, raising concerns for the upcoming July 4 holiday. Thunderstorms in the Northeast caused delays of several hours, posing a significant test for airlines grappling with surging passenger numbers.
Samrat Ghosh, who is visiting India with his family after almost five years, had the most harrowing time this week and could reach their home country after travelling for about 96 hours.
Ghosh says, “Our journey began with a 20-minute delay in boarding the American Airlines flight from Charlotte to New York (JFK) due to thunderstorms. The flight itself took off 40 minutes late, and upon reaching JFK, we faced another hour's delay in landing due to bad weather and low visibility. This delay became a cause for concern as we had a connecting flight to Doha in just 30 minutes.”
Despite the worries, they managed to reach the gate in time, only to discover that they hadn't been checked in properly at Charlotte, and their seats had been sold to other passengers
“Frustrated, we were directed to American guest services, where we had to go back and forth between counters, eventually finding out that the next available flight to Doha was in two days. We reluctantly booked a hotel in New York and made the most of our unexpected stay, exploring the city. Finally, on Sunday night, we departed for Doha, with further delays and challenges along the way.”
Travel woes are likely to continue
More than 24 million passengers are expected to fly from US airports over the holiday period from June 29 through July 5, according to booking app Hopper.com, as cited by Bloomberg. On Friday alone, about 3.7 million passengers are expected to pack planes for the second straight day. However, due to storm forecast, travel woes are likely to continue.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has called the summer travel season a "stress test" for airline operations. "Nobody can control the weather, but it is important for airlines to create enough cushion in resilience in the system," Buttigieg told CNN.
However, United CEO Scott Kirby has blamed the Federal Aviation Administration for making the situation worse. In a staff memo, he said over 150,000 United customers were affected last weekend because of FAA staffing issues and its impact on managing traffic.
Between June 24 and June 29, approximately 43,000 flights faced delays, and over 7,700 were canceled, as reported by FlightAware. United Airlines was hit hardest, with about 19% of its flights canceled and around 47% delayed. While there was some improvement on Thursday compared to previous days, United still had to cancel 18% of its flights.
Still, the airline has said it would be "on track" to restore operations for the holiday weekend when it expects 5 million people to fly with it. Its bookings are up about 12% from last year and have nearly rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.
(With agency inputs)
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Business NewsNewsWorld‘Took us 96 hours to reach India,’ Flyer on how US flight disruptions threatening summer travel plans
First Published:1 Jul 2023, 01:07 PM IST
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