American Airlines expects to cancel around 80 flights per day through June
Airline will be adjusting a 'fraction' of its flight schedules in July
American Airlines expects summer travel to be near pre-pandemic levels
Boyd Group International president Mike Boyd weighs in on 'FOX Business Tonight'
As travelers deal with American Airlines cancellations, the carrier provided some specifics on Monday.
The Texas-based carrier confirmed to FOX Business that it will cancel around 80 flights per day throughout the rest of the month and will be adjusting a "fraction" of its flight schedules in July.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAL | AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC. | 14.26 | +0.25 | +1.78% |
The adjustments – however – will only account for about 1% of its daily operation in July.
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Despite ramping up operations to meet the recent surge in demand for travel over the peak summer season, the carrier faced unprecedented weather at its largest hubs, ultimately disrupting operations.
In fact, in the first 15 days of June, American experienced nine days of bad weather, impacting at least one of its hubs.
A passenger checks in for an American Airlines in Terminal D at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) on March 13, 2020 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
"The first few weeks of June have brought unprecedented weather to our largest hubs, heavily impacting our operation and causing delays, canceled flights and disruptions to crew member schedules and our customers’ plans," an American Airlines spokesperson said in a statement to FOX Business.
On Saturday alone, there were about 150 cancellations, 90 of which were canceled in advance with customers being re-accommodated ahead of their day of travel, according to the airline.
Also, as travel bounces back, however, the carrier is also dealing with a staffing crunch — American Airlines canceled more than 300 flights Saturday and Sunday, many because they couldn’t staff crews for the planes, CNBC reported.
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Nancy Young, vice president of environmental affairs of Airlines for America, an industry trade organization representing the leading U.S. airlines, said in a statement that although its members are "grateful" for the payroll support program which helped keep the heavily battered industry afloat, there is still a "number of employees on the sidelines for a while."
AMERICAN AIRLINES CANCELS HUNDREDS OF FLIGHTS OVER STAFFING SHORTAGE
"They've got to be retrained and we've got to make sure that we've got the numbers matched to the demand as it comes back on. And so, yes, I mean, we're working hard on that and all of our members are," Young said.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act – also known as the CARES Act – created the Payroll Support Program in March 2020 for air carriers and certain contractors. It provided financial assistance "to over 600 companies, supporting hundreds of thousands of aviation jobs," according to the U.S. Department of Treasury.
At the end of 2020, the program was then extended for passenger air carriers and certain contractors.