Thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed around the world over the weekend amid a litany of reported issues.
Overall on Saturday, more than 2,400 flights were canceled and 9,100 were delayed worldwide, FlightAware data shows. Sunday saw about 7,000 flight delays and 2,235 cancelations.
Spring Airlines and China Eastern saw the most with 365 and 663 cancellations, respectively, Sunday’s data shows.
On Saturday, some 700 JetBlue flights were canceled to and from Boston due to severe weather, technical problems, and staffing issues a spokesperson told local media. And on Sunday, more than 140 flights were canceled and 260 were delayed, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
“Despite hiring more than 3,000 new crewmembers already this year, like many businesses, we remain staffing constrained and these disruptions exacerbate an already challenging staffing situation,” a spokesperson said.
JetBlue, meanwhile, is going to make “a small schedule adjustment through the rest of the month,” the statement added. “We sincerely apologize to our customers for these disruptions, and we are working to cancel flights in advance whenever possible so they have time to adjust their plans and do not need to show up to the airport.”
Spirit Airlines saw about 106 of its U.S. flights canceled Sunday and more delayed, FlightAware’s website shows. On Saturday, more than 115 Spirit Airlines flights were canceled, according to FlightAware data.
Alaska Airlines reported about 42 cancelations on Sunday and more on Friday and Saturday, the data shows.
In a statement, the airline pinned the cancelations and delays on a shortage of pilots amid heated talks between Alaska Airlines and its pilot union.
“The primary driver for cancellations is the shortage of pilots available to fly versus what was planned when we built our April schedule in January,” a company spokesperson told the Seattle Times. “Across the industry, airlines are seeing a strain on pilot capacity as air travel demand returns, airlines are all hiring, and we are hiring faster than we’re able to hire and train new pilots.”
More than half of Saturday flights for Southwest Airlines were delayed or canceled, according to a Twitter post from the company, due to “an intermittent technology issue, as well as ongoing weather challenges.”
About a week ago, thousands of flights were canceled or delayed across the country on Saturday and Sunday due to similar issues, including technology problems.
From The Epoch Times