Flight Cancellations Continue During Juneteenth Holiday Weekend
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The travel woes continue as more than 10,000 flights were delayed or canceled over the Juneteenth holiday weekend.
Even Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg experienced those travel problems firsthand when his flight was canceled.
Another 14,000 flights were either canceled or delayed over the weekend and that's on top of the nearly 3,000 flights that were canceled at the end of last week.
"The inconsistency has been a little nerve-racking. I'm a nervous flier anyways, so that adds to it," said Hilary Andelora who was traveling from Baltimore to Buffalo and noticed a discrepancy in the flight status on the flight boards in the airport versus what was displayed online.
Airlines are now apologizing for the high volume of flight disruptions. The weather has been part of the problem but airlines also admit they are short-staffed.
CBS News Senior Travel Adviser Peter Greenberg says airlines have vacancies across the board.
"You can hire as many customer service agents you want to say 'I'm sorry,' but if you don't fix the root problems, the apologies will continue," Greenberg said. "You gotta be able to find pilots. There's a shortage. You have to be able to find people who work under the wing, ground handlers, baggage loaders."
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with airline executives last week and told them to step up their hiring by the Fourth of July or they could face fines. The increased pressure comes ahead of the busy travel season.
"Every flight is completely full," said Ken Schiebel, who was traveling to Seattle from Baltimore. "Our flight to Seattle—every flight all day long to get to Seattle is completely booked."
Buttigieg got a taste of what travelers are dealing with when his flight was canceled last week. Some flyers feel lucky they are dodging the stress.
"I travel every week and I've been fortunate I guess not to have any cancellations," said James Glover who was departing from Baltimore. "I've been lucky, so I hope my luck continues."
The Transportation Security Administration says more than 2 million people have gone through checkpoints every day since the start of June.
Because of that volume, travelers are urged to arrive two hours early for domestic flights and three hours prior for international flights.
