NEWS: Another Airline Has Cut Thousands of Flights from Its Upcoming Schedule

If you’ve got holiday travel plans on the brain, you might already be worried about potential issues with your flights.

Between staffing shortages, delays, cancelations, and even price fluctuations, there are plenty of ways you could run into some trouble on your trip. Several major airlines have already reduced their schedules, and now it looks like more flight cuts are coming soon that could put a damper on your future travel plans.

Despite some recent good news regarding lower airfare costs and fall flight sales, not all is sunshine and daisies for the airline industry. According to WESH, American Airlines is cutting its flight schedule yet again — this time affecting 31,000 flights this coming November.

The move is reportedly “in line” with American’s “approach to network and schedule planning throughout the year.”

The largest scheduled cuts are primarily between Chicago O’Hare and Dallas-Fort Worth, in addition to between Boston and Philadelphia.

But, American isn’t the only airline to reduce scheduled flights, as we’ve also seen reductions and cancelations from Delta, JetBlue, and United as well. According to data from Reuters, 128,934 flights were canceled in the U.S. between January and July — an 11% increase compared to 2019.

Not only that, but nearly one million additional flights have been delayed so far this year.

The airline industry has largely blamed staffing shortages and air traffic control issues for these complications, and the U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed a new rule that would require airlines to compensate passengers for delayed or canceled flights.

Not all hope is lost, though, as Yahoo reports the acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration shared that delays were starting to improve, and we’ve already seen reports that flight prices are coming down.

So, if you want to be prepared for your next flight — make sure you book your flights as early as possible, and download your airline’s app or check their website for the latest information about any upcoming travel plans. And with so much of the airline industry up in the air (literally), it’s always a good idea to have a backup plan!