Leading members of his own party are criticizing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for failing to stop “airmageddon” flight horror as travel nightmare persisted through the Fourth of July weekend.
During the busiest holiday weekend since the pandemic started, 4,378 flights had been delayed and more than 312 had been canceled by Sunday night.
Once of yet, 88 more flights have been postponed for Monday; however, as July 4 travel begins, the number will probably increase dramatically, hurting thousands of Americans returning from a long weekend away.
According to letters they sent out last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna of California also urged Buttigieg to act well before the holiday weekend.
Sanders encouraged Buttigieg to impose fines of $55,000 per passenger for flights delayed for longer than two hours, require airlines to reimburse passengers for delays of more than an hour, and penalize airlines that are unable to “fully staff” scheduled flights.
As expected, the weekend’s travel havoc worsened, prompting Sanders to use Twitter to once more challenge Buttigieg to come up with a solution.
“The taxpayers paid $54 billion to the airlines. They expressed their gratitude by raising ticket costs by 45 percent and leaving travellers stranded in congested airports. Sanders wrote, “Enough.”
It’s time for the Transportation Department to penalize underperforming airlines severely and issue full reimbursements for protracted delays.
According to FlightAware, by 11 p.m. Sunday night, at least 312 flights had been canceled and a startling 4,378 had been delayed.
On Saturday at the end of the day, 654 US flights had been cancelled and 5,860 had been delayed.
By Sunday night, 314 flights had been delayed and 55 cancelled by United Airlines.
American Airlines has canceled 29 flights and delayed 533, Delta has canceled 53 flights and delayed 433, and JetBlue has just canceled six flights and delayed 270.
Prior to the long weekend, Sanders urged Buttigieg to take action, directing his supporters to send an email to the Biden administration pleading with them to “take action to prevent flight cancellations and delays.”
Sanders wrote: “Airline travelers across this nation are growing more and more angry by the astronomical rise in flight delays, cancellations, and the absurdly high rates they are compelled to pay for tickets, checked luggage, and other expenses.”
According to the article, “Thousands of flight cancellations have left passengers and crew members stranded at crowded airports from one end of the country to the other, forcing them to miss weddings, funerals, and business meetings and ruining family vacations that had been planned for months in advance.”
Sanders was joined on the subject by Rep. Khanna, who is the deputy whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a member of the House Oversight Committee. Khanna also wrote to Buttigieg.
He claimed that the Department’s incremental approach had lacked the bravery, vision, and urgency necessary to address the situation and the demands of the American people.
According to Khanna, Buttigieg must make it clear that he has the power to hold airlines accountable for unfair and deceptive acts. He must set down guidelines for what will happen if flights are canceled, there is insufficient staff, or passengers are misled.
Buttigieg appeared to give up on getting things under control yesterday when he advised Americans to follow his lead and seek compensation for the canceled flights. Previously, he had urged airlines to get in shape before the weekend.
‘Airlines offer miles as compensation for some travel troubles, and you can often haggle on this,’ tweeted Buttigieg, who claimed he was first offered approximately $30 back for his missed flight on Friday but ended up receiving $112.07 instead.
When a flight is canceled, you are entitled to a cash return, even if an airline may occasionally pay you points or miles as compensation.
With eight passengers paid $10,000 each to give up their seats last week, according to passengers on one overbooked Delta flight, the airline has taken extraordinary measures to appease disgruntled customers.
This weekend, 48 million people are anticipated to travel, with 3.5 million taking to the skies, according to AAA.
However, considering that the Transportation Security Administration inspected more than 2.1 million passengers at airports on Saturday alone, the actual number of passengers flying could be significantly higher.
American Airlines was the top U.S. airline with the most cancellations Wednesday, with 102 cancellations and 889 delays.
Delta followed suit by postponing 535 flights and canceled 82.
Southwest has postponed 25 flights and delayed 1,048 others, while United Airlines has canceled 43 flights and delayed 492 others.
According to FlightAware, the United States has experienced the cancellation of more than 12,000 flights since the busy Juneteenth travel weekend.
Holiday tourists will have to deal with more expensive travel as well as airport congestion and excessive traffic.
Average hotel rates have climbed by 23% over the past year, while lowest airfares have increased by 14%. Average petrol prices have increased by 56%.
A total of 47.9 million Americans are expected to travel for the Fourth of July this year, up 3.7 percent from last year and nearly at the historic high achieved in 2019, before to the pandemic, according to AAA.
The Biden administration is also criticizing the airlines, claiming that they should adhere to the schedules they post after receiving billions in stimulus money to survive the pandemic.
Buttigieg stated earlier this month that airlines had until July 4 to resolve any problems and iron out any wrinkles so that passengers could enjoy a trouble-free summer vacation.
Earlier this week, Buttigieg retaliated after Airlines for America’s CEO accused the FAA of causing delays.
Buttigieg stated to NBC Nightly News that “the majority of cancellations and the majority of delays have nothing to do with air traffic control manpower.”
Many are urging Buttigieg to take action in the midst of the Fourth of July travel disaster rather than offering suggestions on how to obtain reimbursement like he did.
Hey Pete, one Twitter user with the handle The Dude wrote. Perhaps, in your capacity as Secretary of Transportation, you should be meeting with the FAA, significant airlines, and other key players, banging your fist the the table, and demanding they resolve these issues and come up with a solution. not provide us a frequent flyer mileage update.
How about folks merely want to go somewhere when they actually paid to go? commented another Limstone Caulk on Twitter.
Another Twitter user, Brian Jackson, expressed his desire for Buttigieg to take initiative in the matter.
You know [as] the Secretary of Transportation you could possibly, I dunno, correct the reason of the delays so nobody would need a refund and would actually arrive at their destination?
‘How about you actually check out the reasons the airlines are experiencing troubles and see if there is a way to help, I mean, if you’re not busy, given you are Transportation Secretary,’ a another Twitter user with the handle Pantazopopulos commented.
However, eight passengers on a Delta aircraft to Minneapolis last week reportedly received $10,000 each in exchange for giving up their seats on the overbooked trip, but Buttigieg was only able to get $112 out of his travel cancellation.
Jason Aten, a Tech columnist for Inc. magazine, described how he and his family were on board the plane waiting for takeoff when the flight crew overheard the offer and announced it over the intercom.
He added that the flight attendant informed passengers that if they had Apple Pay, they would even receive the money at this very moment.
Todd McCrumb, a different passenger on the same aircraft, reported to KTVB that flight attendants initially offered people $5,000 before increasing it to $10,000.
A representative for Delta Airlines declined to comment on the amount of cash offered to customers on that aircraft but did confirm that flight staff were permitted to do so in an interview with The New York Post.
According to spokesperson Anthony Black, “compensation is one of the numerous ways that our staff are empowered to handle oversold flights to take care of customers, but also to make sure that the planes go out on schedule.”
According to The Post, Delta permitted personnel to give passengers up to $9,950 for giving up overbooked seats in April 2017 after a man was hurt while being forcibly removed off a flight.
Sen. Bernie Sanders urged Washington charge airlines $55,000 per passenger for every flight cancellation they know can’t be fully staffed.
He also urged that the DOT levy a $15,000 charge per passengers encountering extended delays on domestic and international flights.
‘The American people are weary of airlines ripping them off, canceling flights at the last minute and delaying planes for hours on end,’ he said.
‘Given all of the great taxpayer support that has been offered to the airline industry, all of us have a responsibility to make sure that customers and crew members are treated with respect, not contempt.’
Sens. Edward Markey, of Massachusetts, and Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, requested 10 airline CEOs this week to ‘take immediate action’ to avoid flight disruptions.
The senators asked details regarding how each airline determines which flights to cancel and the number of consumer refunds requested and granted.
As Delta Air Lines led cancellations on Friday, CEO Ed Bastian apologized to passengers in a statement and promised to implement significant improvements, such as extending boarding times, streamlining crew scheduling, and hiring additional staff to help during peak travel times.
In a message to frequent flyer customers, Bastian stated, “We have worked hard to establish Delta as the industry leader in reliability, and while the majority of our flights continue to operate on schedule, this degree of disruption and uncertainty is unacceptable.”
“Things won’t improve overnight, but we’re headed in the right direction,”
More than 3,600 flights have been canceled by Delta since the start of the summer travel season, and 20% of all flights have been delayed since Memorial Day weekend.
The picketing by Delta pilots, who are demanding better contracts since their crews are allegedly overworked over the holiday season, began on Thursday at numerous major airports, including LAX, JFK, and Atlanta.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom stated this week that its pilots would receive a 17 percent raise while Delta pilots are on strike, according to CNBC.
For around 15,000 pilots, the proposal calls for an initial 6 percent boost at signing, followed by a 5 percent raise in 2023 and another in 2024.
The agreement was made less than a week after United Airlines and its pilots’ union agreed to raise pay by 14 percent over the course of 18 months.
The pilots’ union for United said it will convene a special meeting the following week to assess the airline’s proposal and compare it to American’s.
The United union said in a statement, “We will not rush to a decision and will work as a united body to discover the best course of action for the entire pilot group.”
Despite an increase in the national average gas price of about $5 per gallon over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, a record 42 million Americans are anticipated to travel.
For the first time ever, the average retail price of gasoline in the United States recently surpassed $5 per gallon. On Sunday, it had a little decline and averaged $4.81.
Even though the $5 price is not a record when adjusted for inflation, it still represents a roughly $2 per gallon rise from the previous year.
Despite the price increase, demand for gasoline in the US is just 1% below usual for this time of year, and a record number of people are anticipated to drive over the holiday weekend.
GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan, told the Houston Chronicle that despite the high prices, many Americans appear to be driving now that the economy is fully open.
If realized, the 42 million figure would surpass the 2019 high of 41.5 million individuals who drove on July 4th, according to the American Automobile Association.
In total, 47.9 million people are anticipated to travel 50 miles or more from home for the holiday season, exceeding levels from 2021 while falling short by only 2% of 2019’s 49 million travelers.
According to Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel, “the number of travelers we expect to see over Independence Day is a clear sign that summer travel is moving into high gear.” “We started witnessing a spike in travel demand earlier this year, and it isn’t leveling off.”
The number of individuals traveling by train and bus is expected to climb significantly, from 900,000 last year to an estimated 2.42 million people this year.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 1.017 trillion vehicle miles were reported through April 2022, a rate that is only slightly slower than that of 2019 and 2018.