Delays, cancellations causing headaches for travelers as airlines try to meet demand

WASHINGTON (TND) — Travelers are running into frustrating delays, cancellations and back-ups as spring weather brings a return to a demand for flights.

Thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled over the last several weeks as airlines deal with issues with technology, weather and staffing shortages. Airline CEOs are excited to see demand return for their services after the coronavirus pandemic but are facing a series of problems getting operations running smoothly.

Southwest had 34% of its flights delayed Monday, and both Spirit and American Airlines saw delays in 21% of its flights, according to flight data tracker FlightAware.

Data from the Transportation and Security Administration shows there are around 2 million daily travelers since last month, nearly in line with pre-pandemic norms.

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC Wednesday morning the demand for air travel is extremely high, and the airline is coming off its best month ever for flight bookings.

The demand is phenomenal, we’ve never seen in our in our company’s history, the demand for our products and services,” Bastian said.

While the demand is there, airlines are still working on ramping back up from 2020's shutdowns that plummeted the need for air travel. Airlines took unprecedented steps to remain in business without income from travelers and returning to full operating capacity is still a work in progress.

Dr. Laurie Garrow, a professor at Georgia Tech and president of airline research nonprofit AGIFORS, said the industry is experiencing a whiplash effect as it ramps back up.

Planes that were removed from service are being brought back onto tarmacs, but airlines are also having trouble getting enough pilots and other staff to run full schedules.

Safety standards for both planes and pilots prevent plans from being instantly restarted to keep up with consumer demand. Pilots who were placed on furloughs during the depths of the pandemic are not able to immediately return to flying, as safety procedures require them to go through recertification.

“Getting all of the pilots recertified, aircraft reactivated or in other words, no longer parked but in active service, aligned with customer demand was a very challenging problem,” Garrow said.

Some of the problems causing headaches for travelers were expected as the industry tried to navigate a series of unprecedented problems.

Staffing shortages played a factor in delays and cancellations throughout 2021 and into this year despite $54 billion in Congress to help airlines retain workers during the pandemic.

While that funding was helpful, the uncertainty surrounding the timing and exact figures each airline would receive forced airlines to make decisions ahead of congressional approval. Airlines and the supporting infrastructure of airports are also dealing with a cluster of early retirements brought on by the pandemic.

The loss of expertise in maintaining a flight schedule and how to navigate complex situations is also contributing to problems for travelers, Garrow said. Airlines have already started to expand efforts to readjust operations to smooth some of the problems and provide training for less experienced workers coming in.

“The airlines are trying to be creative about that how they're handling that,” Garrow said.

Travelers may be looking for a “return to normal” as the world emerges from the pandemic but will be forced to be patient as the industry works out the remaining hurdles. Bastian said Delta is targeting a return to 100% capacity over the next 12 to 18 months.

As the industry adapts and newer employees go through training, Garrow said she expects will improve given time.