Wednesday marked yet another day of canceled flights for Spirit Airlines and American Airlines, with more than 400 total flights canceled between the two companies.
Around 47 percent, or 321, of Spirit’s flights were canceled Wednesday morning, according to FlightAware.
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Spirit, a Florida-based low-cost air carrier, first started experiencing issues over the weekend, said a Tuesday a CBS report. Issues included staffing shortages, the weather and system outages, said spokesperson Erik Hofmeyer.
"In responding to these challenges, Spirit has implemented some proactive cancellations again today to reset our operations," Hofmeyer said Tuesday, when 60 percent of Spirit’s flights were canceled.
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Spirit canceled 165 flights Sunday and delayed another 342 nationwide, per FlightAware. Another 277 flights were canceled Monday and more than 400 were canceled Tuesday.
Some stranded Spirit passengers took to Twitter to share their frustration.
Severe storms in southeastern Oregon, southwest Idaho, northern Nevada, the Southwest, the Northeast and the Great Basin impacted operations as well as tornadoes with hail in the Midwest and flash flooding throughout the country. Additionally, Spirit's flight attendant union reported an IT outage Tuesday morning that restricted flight crew schedulers from modifying flight schedules for more than an hour, said CBS.
Hofmeyer said Spirit is working to provide refunds and cancellations for the hundreds of travelers throughout the country who were affected. While some issues still persist, the airline is trying to meet the challenge and decrease cancellations.
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“We sincerely regret the inconvenience this has caused,” Hofmeyer said. Crews are “working around the clock to mitigate the travel disruptions,” he added.
According to CBS, American Airlines also experienced widespread delays on Sunday (283 flights) and Monday (355 flights). These delays were mostly due to severe weather in Dallas-Forth Worth, where the largest American Airlines hub is located. A lack of airline pilots also contributed to the delay.
By Wednesday, the airline had only canceled 94 flights and there were sunny skies over the Dallas area, according to the National Weather Service.
These issues are taking hold as the airline industry bounces back from a COVID-19 pandemic-related slump. Approximately 6.4 million travelers were screened between July 30 to Aug. 1, versus the nearly 2.3 million screened during the same time period in 2020, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Around 7.8 million were screened during the same period in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
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According to FlightAware, Spirit is already expected to have 11 canceled flights Thursday and American Airlines has two. As of Wednesday morning, there were no canceled flights listed on Friday for either airline.