CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — With more than 1,800 American Airlines flights canceled over the weekend, experts are wondering if holiday travel is going to suffer as a result of labor shortages.
About one-third of American Airlines domestic flights were kept on the ground over the weekend. The problem started with bad weather in Dallas, the airline's largest hub, before taking a nosedive as residual delays and staff shortages created more trouble.
"What we're seeing is airlines just don't have their labor — flight attendants, baggage handlers, pilots — down to a situation where they can avoid these massive spiraling effects when things go wrong,” Joseph Schweiterman, a professor in DePaul University's school of public services, told WBBM Newsradio.
The cancelations mirrored the conundrum Southwest Airlines found itself in last month.
Bad weather caused delays and the company couldn't recover from the scheduling debacle due to labor shortages.
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Schweiterman said it's not exactly a new problem.
"We've been seeing this play out around the country in the last six weeks or so, Southwest of course had that really bad cancellation spurt a few weeks ago...people are nervous about the holidays coming up because it's become a repeat act for Southwest and now American,” he said.
Both Southwest and American said they're working on hiring more flight attendants, pilots and other staff before the holidays hit.
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