NEWS: Airlines Suffering From Mass Cancelations AGAIN

The travel industry hasn’t had it easy lately.

Airlines have been plagued by staffing shortages, rising costs of fuel, and even reduced flight schedules, which have led to a massive increase in flight delays and cancelations altogether. Experts don’t anticipate air travel to become any easier any time soon, and now even more mass cancelations have wreaked havoc on U.S. airlines yet again.

If you’ve spent any time in an airport recently, you might have seen (or even experienced yourself) delayed and canceled flights everywhere you look. According to data from FlightAware.com, 1,000+ flights within, into, or out of the United States were canceled on Friday, and a further 3,500+ have been delayed.

Flights continue to be delayed or canceled.

This comes after 1,248 flights were canceled by airlines on Thursday, with Southwest having the highest number of cancelations (370) and delays (1,800). During the last week in July, more than 5,000 domestic flights per day were delayed or canceled, with airlines citing a variety of reasons for the issues.

So, what are the main factors causing these delays? Well, experts indicate staffing shortages and already reduced flight schedules as some of the factors contributing to the problem. Delta Airlines canceled 100 daily flights from its schedule, and American Airlines recently cut 7,000 flights from its September flight plans.

Airlines have even begun shifting the way they handle cancelations, with Southwest Airlines having done away with their flight credit expiration policy. The Department of Transportation has also stepped in, as the agency has proposed stricter rules about when an airline is required to reimburse passengers for canceled or delayed flights.

If you’re planning on traveling by airplane soon, make sure you book flights as early as possible and keep checking your airline’s website or app to get the most updated information. Want more travel news? JetBlue could be acquiring Spirit Airlines — here’s what we know. Plus, three more destinations were just added to the CDC’s “high” risk category for COVID-19, and you can read more about that here.

We’ll continue to monitor flights and more, so stay tuned to AllEars for the latest travel news!