Airline delays and cancellations in US worsen ahead of holiday weekend
Published:Wednesday | June 28, 2023 | 3:12 PM
Travellers are getting hit with delays at United States airports again Wednesday, an ominous sign heading into the long July 4 holiday weekend, which is shaping up as the biggest test yet for airlines that are struggling to keep up with surging numbers of passengers.
By early afternoon on the East Coast, nearly 3,000 US flights had been delayed and more than 800 cancelled, according to FlightAware.
The worst disruptions continued to be along the East Coast, which has been pummelled by thunderstorms this week.
The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded flights going to all three major airports in the New York City area Tuesday night after holding up flights heading to Reagan Washington National and Baltimore-Washington airports near the nation's capital earlier in the day.
Huge crowds, bad weather, inability of some airline crews to reach their scheduling offices — even a Delta jet that made a belly landing in Charlotte, North Carolina — have all contributed to the mess.
And it could be just the storm before the storm: The FAA predicted that Thursday would be the heaviest travel day over the July 4 holiday period.
On top of that, some airline planes may be unable to fly in bad weather starting this weekend because of possible interference with 5G wireless service.
United Airlines, which has a major hub operation in Newark, New Jersey, was again faring the worst early Wednesday.
It cancelled about 400 flights or 13% of its schedule by early afternoon.
New York's JetBlue cancelled 9% of its flights.
Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.