Thousands of travelers had a couple of rough days at airports across the country. More than 1,300 U.S. flights were canceled by 5 p.m. ET Friday and over 5,000 were delayed.
Nationwide, American Airlines and Delta experienced most of the cancellations, with schedules reduced by 8% and 7% on Friday. However, those numbers do not include flights on the companies’ regional affiliates that operate as American Eagle and Delta Connection.
“The vast majority of that is weather-related,” said Curtis Blessing, spokesman for American Airlines. He also said that weather in the Miami area contributed to delays for the carrier on Friday morning.
Airlines kicked off the busy summer travel season by canceling nearly 2,800 flights this past Memorial Day weekend, it will likely be a tough summer for the nation’s air travelers.
Thursday and Friday’s chaos follows a virtual meeting between airline CEOs and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as a sign of the Biden administration’s concerns about the prospect of snarled airports and unhappy air passengers this summer.
“I let them know that this is a moment when we are really counting on them to deliver reliably for the traveling public,” Buttigieg told NBC News.
If a flight is canceled, the U.S. Department of Transportation requires airlines to rebook those passengers on the canceled flight on their next available service that has space.
If that does not work for the passenger, then the carrier has to offer a refund, even if a nonrefundable ticket was purchased.
In the event of a delay, an airline’s responsibility is vague. DOT does require compensation for “significant delays” but there is no official definition for what counts as “significant.”
