Over 1K flights delayed, canceled on Friday
American Airlines already reduced its fall schedule to become more reliable
Numerous flights are still being delayed and canceled on Friday, marking more than a week of heightened disruptions, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
As of 10 a.m. ET on Friday, more than 1,000 flights in, out of and across the U.S. have been delayed, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight delay and cancellation statistics in real-time. Another 100-plus flights were canceled.
There have been widespread delays and cancellations all summer due to a lack of staffing as well as weather and air traffic control issues. However, there has been a particularly heavy amount of disruptions since last Thursday due to thunderstorm activity and weather ground stops.
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Last Friday, in particular, marked a record day for high delays over the past month with 8,430 delayed U.S flights. It also marked the third-highest day for cancellations since Memorial Day weekend with 1,613 flights scrapped.
Heading into the week, there were thousands of delays each day.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAL | AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC. | 14.92 | +0.54 | +3.76% |
| UAL | UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. | 96.83 | +1.59 | +1.67% |
| DAL | DELTA AIR LINES INC. | 64.49 | +1.15 | +1.82% |
| LUV | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. | 32.43 | +0.46 | +1.44% |
AMERICAN AIRLINES CUTTING FLIGHTS FROM FALL SCHEDULE
Still, the worst days of 2022 are still in the first three months of the year, according to FlightAware spokesperson Kathleen Bangs.
Cancellations, in particular, are down compared with the first three months of the year when airlines battled staffing issues related to the omicron variant of COVID-19 as well as winter storms, according to Bangs. Cancellations in February spiked to more than 5,000 flights, according to the data.
However, delays have increased throughout the second quarter and even into July and August. Still, despite the ongoing issues, Bangs said there might have been more cancellations if airlines hadn't pared back their summer schedules.
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Earlier this summer, Nicholas Calio, president of the trade group Airlines for America, said its member carriers cut 15% of the flights they originally planned for through August while also ramping up hiring and training to combat issues and become more reliable for passengers.
American Airlines has already announced big schedule reductions for fall travel to try and improve their overall rate delays and cancellations.
Bangs projects that travel delays should even out after the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend as kids return to school, leisure travel drops and demand falls.