Air travelers brace for turbulence over Fourth of July weekend

Scott Vargo was among those Thursday at Pittsburgh International Airport taking their chances and hoping for the best.

Amid the airline industry’s nationwide struggles with cancellations and delays, Vargo nonetheless forged ahead with travel plans to fly to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., for the Fourth of July holiday weekend to celebrate his brother’s bachelor party.

“Our biggest concern right now is making sure we make it home on time,” said Vargo, 34, of Irwin, who has to be back at work by Tuesday morning. “There have been a bunch of cancellations, and so I guess we’ll see. It’s the luck of the draw.”

Just last week, an airlines trade organization placed blamed on the Federal Aviation Administration for airlines’ widespread flight disruptions this summer. Airlines for America said in a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that understaffing at the FAA is “crippling” traffic along the East Coast.

The Wall Street Journal reported more than 5,000 flights were canceled nationwide over the Father’s Day and Juneteenth holiday weekend.

According to Flight Tracker, more than 6,000 flights were canceled nationwide over the Memorial Day weekend, including dozens in Pittsburgh. Airlines attributed it to covid-19 outbreaks, staffing issues — including a shortage of air-traffic controllers — and weather.

The industry is hoping to avoid repeat over the Fourth of July holiday. American Airlines canceled 8% of its flights on Tuesday and Wednesday, and United Airlines scrubbed 4% of its schedule both days, according to FlightAware.

Delta on Wednesday warned of “potentially challenging weekend travel days” in issuing a systemwide fare difference waiver for July 1-4. The waiver allows customers to rebook their trip with no fare difference or change fees as long as the origin and destination remain the same.

“Airlines are learning the hard way that there is a severe price for over-optimism,” Joseph Schwieterman, a transportation expert at DePaul University, told the Associated Press. “They are on the edge of a cliff this holiday.”

Officials at the Allegheny County Airport Authority anticipate 145,000 total passengers would be flying in and out of Pittsburgh International Airport between Thursday and Tuesday.

“Based on scheduled seats, this should be very close to the passenger volume we saw for the pre-pandemic July 4 holiday travel period in 2019, approximately 95% of that,” said Bob Kerlik, spokesman for the airport authority, which operates Pittsburgh International.

Pittsburgh native Dana Braun, 59, who now lives in Boston, was at Pittsburgh International on Thursday awaiting her Jet Blue flight home. She said she was concerned about getting back on time.

“We’re concerned about the flights that have been cancelled, not due to weather but lack of pilots,” Braun said.

She said when she landed at the Findlay facility her luggage was missing and she had a long wait for it to be found.

“It would have been nice to get an apology,” Braun said. “The lack of communication was unacceptable.”

From June 23-29, there were 93 flight cancellations out of 1,818 flights at Pittsburgh International, a rate of about 5% that is slightly above average, Kerlik said.

Part of the problem has to do with the rebooting an industry that was brought to a halt by the covid-19 pandemic, Kerlik said.

“The airlines, like a lot of businesses, had to make cuts during the pandemic, and getting people retrained for airline flying when you’re in a heavily regulated industry takes a little longer than perhaps another business might have,” Kerlik said. “We know there are airline challenges, including staffing and higher fuel costs, combined with heavy demand throughout the industry.”

Gabe Monzo, executive director at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity, said staff shortages are forcing airlines to prioritize certain flights, especially ones that are full, because the goal is to increase traffic.

“The way to increase traffic is by filling the airplanes. The flights that are used the most are the ones that will get the most attention,” Monzo said. “If you’re not able to fill an airplane now, then those are the ones that are going to be restricted in the amount of times they go.

“The more people you put on flights, the more flights that will be created down the road. They’ll catch up (to demand) eventually.”

According to AAA, air travel has increased 2.9% in Pennsylvania over the past year.

Linda Wei, 52, of London, was waiting Thursday to fly back to England on British Airways and said she was worried her flight would be canceled.

“There were a lot of flights canceled coming out of London,” she said. “I hope today goes smoothly. But London Heathrow has been awful. There have been problems with baggage as well as flights being canceled. They don’t have enough staff. British Airways has been good. But other airlines have been canceling at the last minute, so people get stuck.”

Flight delays also have been a problem. Almost one-third of flights arriving at U.S. airports last Friday were delayed, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Kerlik advised travelers at Pittsburgh International to arrive two hours before their flight and three hours before an international flight.

Monzo said Arnold Palmer airport averaged three delays per week in June and had just one cancellation. Nevertheless, he advised people to arrive two hours before their flights this weekend.

“I think it’s encouraging that people want to use the airlines,” he said. “You can remember a year and a half ago we were lucky to have a flight.”

The Associated Press contributed.