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American Airlines passengers have had a particularly rough time, with the airline canceling hundreds of flights in recent days.
Jenny Kane/AP
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Jenny Kane/AP
American Airlines passengers have had a particularly rough time, with the airline canceling hundreds of flights in recent days.
Jenny Kane/AP
Just as hundreds of thousands of Americans are returning to the skies this summer, many of the old inconveniences and annoyances of commercial air travel are back. And experts say travelers should expect continued problems during the busy summer season.
Long lines at security checkpoints, disruptive passengers and lengthy flight delays and cancellations greet many air travelers who may not have boarded for 15 months or more due to the pandemic.
American Airlines passengers have had a particularly rough time, with the airline canceling hundreds of flights in recent days due to staff shortages and what the airline calls “unprecedented weather” in a statement.
The airline canceled more than 120 flights on Saturday, 188 on Sunday and at least 162 on Monday, Flight Aware reported. In addition, the flight-tracking website said 760 U.S. flights were delayed Sunday and nearly 800 flights delayed Monday.
Weather and staff have caused problems
In a statement, American cited “unprecedented weather” as one of the causes of the company’s recent troubles.
Severe thunderstorms have indeed hit some of the country’s largest airports in recent days, including Dallas-Fort Worth International, Chicago’s O’Hare International, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International and Washington Dulles International.
The airline also explains that it has preemptively canceled flights in advance to minimize surprises for passengers at the airport, and says the cancellations mainly occur in markets with multiple options for passengers to rebook on other flights.
Going forward, American is now proactively canceling approximately 1% of its scheduled flights through mid-July. A US spokeswoman said that amounts to about 50 to 80 of the airline’s daily departures.
But Capt. Dennis Tajer, a 737 pilot for American Airlines and a spokesperson for the airline’s pilots’ union, told NPR the problem stems from the company’s aggressive plan to restore flight schedules to near pre-pandemic levels despite a severe pilot shortage. as a result of strategic steps taken during the pandemic.
A line at the security checkpoint at Denver International Airport last week reflects the post-pandemic interest in air travel.
David Zalubowski/AP
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David Zalubowski/AP
A line at the security checkpoint at Denver International Airport last week reflects the post-pandemic interest in air travel.
David Zalubowski/AP
Early retirement offers and leave caused a shortage
To save money during the global travel delay, Tajer said, American offered pilots nearing retirement a buyout package. “About a thousand pilots have used it,” he estimated.
“The point is, you now have to train a new pilot in that seat. Just because a captain of a 737 goes out the door, the plane is still there, and you have to find a replacement,” the pilot said.
He noted that while it may have been a good cost-cutting measure at the time, it has only served to exacerbate American’s bigger problem: It can’t train and recertify pilots fast enough to meet demand.
Despite $50 billion in bailouts used to help the airline industry through the recession and ensure they would be ready when customers return, American fell behind on its commitment to keep its pilots certified and informed. of flight requirements, Tajer said.
“Instead, American was the only major network to lay off pilots,” he recalls.
About 1,600 pilots were sent on leave for several months. “That means they weren’t flying regularly or training on simulators in all that time to get certified to fly the way they should be.”
In a statement, U.S. spokeswoman Gianna Urgo told NPR that all “previously discharged pilots were recalled in December 2020 in accordance with the Payroll Support Program extension, and began to return to training and work based on operational need.”
Dispute over a training and certification bottleneck
According to Urgo, “pilot training remains on track” and the company is on track to have all recalled pilots “complete training by the end of June”.
Tajer said that’s overly optimistic, claiming that a bottleneck in the training and recertification pipeline caused by a shortage of instructors, as well as limited access to the necessary types of flight simulators, have slowed things down. In many cases, he said, “it can take up to two months” to regain flight status.
An April 20 email from U.S. officials to employees obtained by NPR predicted that all recalled pilots would return to flying status “by the end of the summer.”
At best, this creates potential frustration for anyone with summer travel plans, according to Tajer, while at worst it could be “a total disaster for some people.”
He noted a recent internal message to employees touting the airline’s new destinations under the headline “A Great American Summer.”
That could be, he said. “Or will it be a big American bummer?”
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