There isn't much you can do to prevent a delay or cancellation. The supply shortage has seen the price of aviation fuel hit all-time highs: According to the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, jet fuel costs reached $4.82 billion in April 2022, up more than 15% from March and a whopping 58% from April 2019.įor domestic flights, the agency said, the cost per gallon has shot up 103% from April 2021. Refinery shutdowns mean more than a million barrels a day, or about 5% of the total US aviation fuel capacity, has been lost since the beginning of the pandemic, Bloomberg reported, with no concrete plans to bring capacity back up.Īviation fuel costs have hit record highs. Extreme weatherĪlready this year, severe thunderstorms have caused multiple issues and the US hasn't even hit hurricane and wildfire season, which will only add to delays and cancellations.Īircraft can fly at lower altitudes to get storm system, but that burns more fuel - a dicy proposition given the soaring cost of jet fuel. Southwest Airlines has nixed almost 20,000 summer flights. "Most airlines are simply not going to be able to realize their capacity plans because there simply aren't enough pilots, at least not for the next five-plus years," United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said during a quarterly earnings call back in April, NBC News reportedĭelta said it has canceled 100 scheduled daily flights in the US and Latin America between July 1 and Aug. It's particularly acute with pilots because it can take up to five years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to train someone to fly a commercial airplane. It's a remarkable growth period and they're just back-footed." ![]() "They did a lot of buyouts during the pandemic. The shortages extend to ground staff, baggage handlers, gate personnel and other workers, FlightAware spokesperson Kathleen Bangs told CNET. "They're trying to guess what demand is going to mean, while still leaving slack in case of emergency."įind out what's causing all the canceled flights, what the airlines are doing about it, and how you can save yourself a lot of trouble if your flight gets nixed. In addition, the industry was caught off guard at how quickly Americans would take back to the skies.Īirlines are "having trouble matching supply and demand," said David Slotnick, senior airline business reporter for CNET's sister site The Points Guy. The chief culprits are bad weather and a shortage of workers, most notably pilots. ![]() And with the three-day Independence Day weekend right around the corner, that spells trouble. More than 35,000 flights were grounded or delayed over the Juneteenth and Father's Day weekend. If you've flown anywhere lately, you know air travel is plagued by cancellations and delays: So far in 2022, US airlines have canceled flights four times as often on key travel weekends as they did in 2019, according to an analysis of flight data by Business Insider.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |