The millions of travelers who will leave their homes for trips on the occasion of the long weekend of July 4 could run into flight delays or cancellations, a situation that has already affected dozens of passengers since last Sunday.
More than 50 million Americans will travel between this Friday and next Tuesday by land or air, according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA). The previous number represents a 4% increase compared to levels in 2019, the previous record for the season.
However, there is no guarantee that everyone will arrive on time at their destination or return to their homes or residences on the scheduled date due to cancellations and delays at airports in the country in recent days.
The statistics do not include scheduled trips for Thursday, which according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would be the busiest day.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reported that it inspected 2.7 million passengers, which represents an increase of 32% compared to 2019.
Since last weekend, reported storms and FAA equipment failures in the Washington area have made things difficult for air travelers, particularly those with United Airlines in the Northeast, which have experienced the longest delays. .
Between last Saturday and yesterday, some 43,000 flights were delayed, and 7,700 were cancelled, according to the FlightAware monitoring site.
In the case of United, 19% of its voyages were cancelled, and 47% of its flights delayed.
Despite the outlook, the airline assured that the flow of operations was beginning to improve yesterday with fewer cancellations than in previous days.
United CEO Scott Kirby blamed the FAA for allegedly aggravating the situation by failing to efficiently handle understaffing at air traffic control towers, according to a memo cited by Reuters.
For his part, the secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, said that the situation is a stress test for air operations.
“Nobody can control the weather, but it’s important that airlines build enough of a resiliency cushion into the system,” Buttigieg said Wednesday on CNN.
The official added that the shortage of employees in control towers is not the main problem.
“Look, United Airlines has some internal issues that they need to work on. They have really been struggling this week, even relative to other airlines,” she posed. “I want to be very clear, air traffic problems are not the main cause of cancellations and delays. It’s not even problem number two. All the data, including that of the industry itself, is very clear on that,” she said.
If your flight is canceled or your reservation is affected by delays, there are several instances in which you can request a refund of money for the alteration.
In cases where the airline cancels, regardless of the reason, and you decide not to travel, they must give you a refund.
Airlines are also required to refund your money if they make a change to the flight schedule or significant delays to your itinerary are reported and you decide not to travel.
For more details on your rights in cases of flight cancellations and delays, you can visit the website of the federal Department of Transportation.
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