Some American Airlines Flights Canceled At BWI Amid Reports Of Labor Shortages
BALTIMORE (CNN/WJZ) -- American Airlines is canceling hundreds of flights through at least mid-July as the company strives to maintain service in the midst of massively increasing travel demand while the coronavirus pandemic continues to recede in the United States, according to a spokesperson from the airline.
At Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, only one American Airlines flight was impacted Monday.
According to an American Airlines spokesperson, the shortage is affecting about 1% of its daily operation in July.
"The first few weeks of June have brought unprecedented weather to our largest hubs, heavily impacting our operation and causing delays, canceled flights, and disruptions to crewmember schedules and our customers' plans," said American Airlines in a statement. "That, combined with the labor shortages some of our vendors are contending with and the incredibly quick ramp-up of customer demand has led us to build in additional resilience and certainty to our operation by adjusting a fraction of our scheduled flying through mid-July. We made targeted changes with the goal of impacting the fewest number of customers by adjusting flights in markets where we have multiple options for re-accommodation."
"Our focus this summer — and always — is on delivering for our customers no matter the circumstance," the statement continued. "We never want to disappoint, and feel these schedule adjustments will help ensure we can take good care of our customers and team members and minimize surprises at the airport."
Airlines officials said unprecedented weather has also attributed to cancellations and delays this summer. In order to help with this, they adjusted some of their scheduled flights through mid-July. They said they are doing this in markets where there are multiple options for re-accommodation.
Still, the fraction of targeted cancelations adds up to hundreds of flights through mid-July. On Saturday, American Airlines had 120 cancellations, and the company is projecting 50 to 80 flight cancelations per day going forward.
Industries across the country have struggled to hire employees as the economy attempts to return to a pre-pandemic normal.
Customers who had been booked through July 15 will be notified or have already received notifications if their flights have been canceled so they can make travel adjustments in advance, a spokeswoman said.
Gibson also said the cancelations will be spread throughout its system, to minimize impact in a single area, though there will be a bigger effect in Dallas-Fort Worth, an American Airlines hub.
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