https://sputnikglobe.com/20220403/spring-break-craze-tech-issues-prompt-us-airlines-to-cancel--delay-thousands-of-flights-1094450120.html

Spring Break Craze, Tech Issues Prompt US Airlines to Cancel & Delay Thousands of Flights

Spring Break Craze, Tech Issues Prompt US Airlines to Cancel & Delay Thousands of Flights

Sputnik International

As the worst aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic begin to fall away due to vaccination rates, those who wish to broaden their horizon beyond the living room are... 03.04.2022, Sputnik International

2022-04-03T22:51+0000

2022-04-03T22:51+0000

2023-01-15T17:48+0000

flight cancellations

flight delays

technical issues

weather

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A thunderstorm that’s hitting Florida combined with technology issues faced by Southwest Airlines, as well as a union strike from pilots working for Delta, American, and Alaska Airlines have wreaked havoc on spring breakers this weekend. Through Saturday and Sunday, more than 3,200 flights were canceled and 7,000 flights were delayed, according to the flight-tracking site FlightAware.Airports in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and even Baltimore experienced disruptions this weekend. Airlines struggling to serve customers during the busy weekend included JetBlue, Southwest, Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Spirit, and American Airlines. But by Sunday, several airlines reportedly said things were getting back to normal.Southwest Airlines canceled about 1,000 Florida flights over the weekend due to “weather and airspace congestion,” as well as "intermittent performance issues following routine overnight maintenance of some of [its] backend technology," but announced that as of 1 p.m. on Sunday, they had no more cancellations.During their technology dilemma, Southwest also reported that their crew members were unable to find hotel rooms, an issue they also dealt with last year. “With widespread cancellations in the midst of a busy travel season, hotel rooms were unavailable in a few cities, and late day crew timeouts in those cities meant that some crew members were left without rooms,” Southwest said in a letter to crew members on Sunday. “We take that shortfall seriously and are working to follow up with affected crew members.”Alaska Airlines also had weekend flight cancellations beginning on Friday that affected more than 37,000 customers, with the airline saying on Sunday that even more cancellations were possible. But it doesn’t look as though weather or technology were to blame for the airline’s cancellations; 3,100 pilots employed by Alaska Airlines are striking in an effort to change their contracts so as to receive better job security and schedule stability.With flight bookings surging, airline CEOs are sure to make a pretty penny, but Alaska Airlines pilots say their company failed to prepare for the travel upswing. “Alaska Airlines failed to properly plan for increased travel demand and take the steps necessary to ensure it attracted and retained pilots,” the pilots union said on Friday.The demand for travel is coming at a time when rates of those being fully vaccinated in the US have reached 66.1%, with 218 million Americans receiving their jabs. A McKinsey survey from the summer of last year revealed travel to be the second-most desired activity among respondents following dining out.And despite a surge in airfare prices following rising gas costs, spring breakers still packed airports this season, with an average of more than 2.1 million travelers going through airport security checkpoints everyday for the past two weeks. This same time two years ago, airports were essentially ghost towns. And most travelers are flying domestically for pleasure, while business and international travel struggle to keep up.In February, American consumers spent $6.6 billion on booking airline tickets."The demand (for domestic leisure travel) is higher than it's ever been," said the former American Airlines CEO Doug Parker at the J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference on March 15. "And I can tell you that at American, we didn't just have our record day, we had three days that were the best, highest days ever. Two of them were 15% higher than any day we've ever had,” he added.

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flight cancellations, flight delays, technical issues, weather