Having an airline ticket for a flight that doesn't get canceled feels like winning the lottery lately. And it doesn't look like things are going to improve any time soon.
Major airlines have pre-emptively cancelled more than 20,000 flights between now and Labor Day.
A shortage of pilots and other airline workers is the primary reason for cancellations, officials say.
"Because of the staffing shortage that exists, especially with pilots, airlines have scaled back the number of flights they're going to operate this summer in order to have a buffer of extra pilots, extra flight attendants, and extra airplanes ready in case you get a bad storm or something else that disrupts their operation," travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt of Atmosphere Research Group told NPR.
Southwest is responsible for the largest chunk of cancelations; the airline cut nearly 20,000 flights through September 5 as it struggles to hire 10,000 new workers it needs to meet travel demand.
Delta Air Lines also said it was reducing its schedule by 100 flights daily from July 1 to August 7 in an attempt to prevent major travel disruptions.
"A variety of factors continue to impact our operations, including challenges with air traffic control, weather, and unscheduled absences in some work groups," a Delta spokesperson told Business Insider. "Canceling a flight is always our last resort, and we sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience to their travel plans."
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Spirit Airlines said it was trimming its flight schedule by 5% to 6% until at least August to head off cascading cancellations.
JetBlue Airways cut its summer flying schedule by 10%, and Alaska Airlines is reducing about 2% of its total flights this summer.
Despite the cancellations, airlines are working overtime to make sure as many flights stay on schedule as possible. In an open letter to customers last week, Delta pilots wrote that recent delays and cancelations were "unacceptable."
"We are disheartened when we witness the impact of your disrupted travel plans," the pilots wrote. "We have been working on our days off, flying a record amount of overtime to help you get to your destination. At the current rate, by this fall, our pilots will have flown more overtime in 2022 than in the entirety of 2018 and 2019 combined, our busiest years to date."
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Last week, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with airline executives to discuss the disruptions and detail steps they're taking to improve service.
"I brought together airline leaders to focus on how they can ensure people get where they need to be, and back up their operations with responsive customer service," Buttigieg tweeted Friday. "Air travelers should be able to expect reliable service as demand returns to levels not seen since before the pandemic."
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